A life of George Westinghouse

A LIFE OF
GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

A LIFE OF
GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

BY

HENRY G. PROUT, C.E., A.M., LL.D.

FOR A COMMITTEE OF
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL

" The history of the world is the biography of great men."

— Carlyle t

THE AMERICAN SOCIETY

OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS

NEW YORK :::::::: 1921

' '• COPTBIGHT, 1921, BT

THE, AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS

PRINTED AT

THE SCRIBNER PRESS

NEW YORK, U. S. A.

PREFACE

MANY officers and members of The American Society
of Mechanical Engineers have thought that the Society
ought to publish the lives of some of its great men. In 1912
it published a special edition of the "Autobiography of
John Fritz, Honorary Member and Past President." This
life of George Westinghouse, Honorary Member and Past
President, is the second in what may be a series of such
biographies.

The activities of George Westinghouse were many and
varied, and many different activities went on simultane-
ously. He dealt in the same week, and often in the same
day, with organization, financial and executive affairs, com-
mercial affairs, and the engineering details of half a dozen
companies in two hemispheres. They were as far apart
in kind as the air brake and natural gas, and as far apart
in geography as San Francisco and St. Petersburg. That
being so, it seemed that a chronological narrative would
of necessity lead to some confusion, not to say fatigue, for
the reader. It was decided to treat each topic by itself
without regard to what might be going on at the same time
in other fields, with a short preliminary chapter to which
the reader might return to orient himself should he care,
for instance, to know what other serious things were in
hand at a critical moment in the history of the air brake.
It was hoped that by this treatment a certain continuity
of impression might be kept in each story told by itself.

Another reason for the segregation of topics is their tech-
nicality. By their nature they cannot be easy reading,

4CI685

vi PREFACE

even for all engineers, and segregation makes skipping easy.
Finally, from the first chapter and the last two, a reader who
is quite impervious to engineering of any kind (if such a
being exists) can get a notion of Westinghouse and of what
he meant to mankind.

The variety in Westinghouse's life seemed to dictate
the form that a biography should take. Other conditions
seemed to indicate the best way of preparing it. He left
no written record except in the files of his numerous
companies. He wrote almost no private letters. He kept
no journals or even note-books. He made but few ad-
dresses and wrote few papers. Some record of his work
might be made after a laborious search of office files, so
far as the files of forty-eight years still exist, but the result
would be formal and without color. It would not be a life,
and George Westinghouse was a very human being. Fur-
thermore no one man has the range of knowledge and the
comprehensive judgment of the relative importance of the
things done to fit him to write an adequate life of George
Westinghouse. Lord Rosebery said that it would take a
syndicate to write the life of Gladstone; perhaps this is
quite as true of a life of Westinghouse.

Fortunately, there are many men still living and work-
ing who were close to Westinghouse, some of them almost
from the beginning of his active life, and those men have
contributed liberally from the stores of their memories and
impressions. The editor's duty has been to digest these
contributions, to coordinate them, and to keep a reason-
able perspective. In this he has been aided by the Com-
mittee of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers
appointed for that purpose. Sometimes the language of
the writers has been used with little change. This is par-
ticularly the case with the descriptive parts of the air-brake

PREFACE vii

chapter, although even there large liberties have been
taken.* Generally the contributions sent in have been
freely rewritten, as was expected by those who wrote them.
Such a method, while very ancient, has its difficulties, but
the outcome in this case may serve to give the reader a
fairly just conception of the man of whom Lord Kelvin
said: "George Westinghouse is in character and achieve-
ments one of the great men of our time."

The purpose has been to write a life of George Westing-
house. For clearness and accuracy, and to give authority
for statements made, it has seemed well to mention the
names of some of those who helped him, but there has been
no attempt to make systematic or approximately complete
mention of the many men to whose cooperation he owed
a great deal; one would not know where to stop. By
those qualities of mind and heart which this book will
make known to the reader, Westinghouse attached to him-
self a large group of able, loyal, and even devoted assis-
tants. Amongst them were many brilliant and constructive
minds — organizers, administrators, executives, and engi-
neers. The committee and the editor regret that it is not
practicable to enter upon the delicate task of telling what
these men did in the work here chronicled.

For the material in this book the reader is much indebted
to Henry Herman Westinghouse, Charles A. Terry, John
F. Miller, Benjamin G. Lamme, Paul D. Cravath, Herbert
T. Herr, and Lewis B. Stillwell. Important passages and
suggestions have been supplied by Edwin M. Herr, Loyall A.
Osborne, Charles F. Scott, Reginald Belfield, Calvert Town-
ley, Frank H. Shepard, Hubert C. Tener, Albert Kapteyn,
T. U. Parsons, J. H. Luke, Albert Chinn, and J. J. Elmer.

* The editor is particularly grateful to Mr. John F." Miller, who put into
the air-brake chapter labor, knowledge, taste, and judgment.

viii PREFACE

The committee in charge of the work were: Charles A.
Terry, chairman; Paul D. Cravath, Alexander C. Humph-
reys, James H. McGraw, Charles F. Scott, Lewis B. Still-
well, Ambrose Swasey, with Henry Herman Westinghouse
always in consultation.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAOK

I. INTRODUCTORY 1

Birth and birthplace — Ancestry — His brothers — In the
Civil War — Inherited qualities — Education in school and
shop — Early inventions — Marriage and home — Princi-
pal enterprises — Decade of greatest output — The last
years.

II. THE AIR BRAKE 21

Some early notions — He turns to the air-brake — Who
invented the air-brake? — Creates a new art — First air-
braked trains — The automatic brake comes — The Scott
model, Franklin Institute — Fundamentals of the auto-
matic brake — Development of the triple valve — Some
accessories — The Burlington brake trials — The quick-
action triple — The triumph after Burlington — English
experiences — The Galton-Westinghouse experiments and
some lessons — The education of the users.

III. FRICTION DRAFT GEAR 77

A new principle introduced — Genesis of the friction gear

— First patent, 1888 — First commercial use nine years
later — Its various functions — Effects in starting trams
— Its comparative importance.

IV. A GENERAL SKETCH OP ELECTRIC ACTIVITIES . 87
Some elementary explanations — Early interest in electric
lighting — Early railway work — His interest in alternat-
ing current is aroused — Buys the Gaulard and Gibbs
patents — The transformer is developed — Westinghouse
•Electric Company chartered — Opposition tp alternating
current — Ninety-five per cent of electric energy used

now alternating current — The central power-station

x CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

V. THE INDUCTION MOTOR AND METER .... 121
Tesla's invention — Seven years developing to usefulness
— A great chapter in electrical history — Steps in devel-
opment of the motor — Shallenberger invents a meter.

VI. THE ROTARY CONVERTER 130

The economic place of the rotary converter — Its first
serious commercial development at East Pittsburgh —
Effect on the electric art.

VII. THE CHICAGO WORLD'S FAIR 134

Westinghouse takes the lighting contract — And then
develops a lamp — And the means of making it — Exhibits
alternating-current machinery — A historical moment.

VIII. NIAGARA FALLS 141

The Cataract Construction Company — An international
commission — Decision reached to distribute power by
electricity — And to use alternating current — the Tellu-
ride plant and its effects — Compressed-air transmission
— Studies of frequency — The contract awarded October
1893 — Magnitude of the enterprise and some results —
Certain local enterprises.

IX. ELECTRIC TRACTION 159

Early trolley roads — Westinghouse foresaw heavy elec-
trification with alternating current — But had first to
enter the street-railway field — Development of direct-
current apparatus — State of the art — Slow and difficult
growth of alternating-current systems — St. Clair Tun-
nel— New Haven Railroad — Milwaukee and St. Paul —
Regeneration — Load balancing — Some effects of railroad
electrification.

/ X. STEAM AND GAS ENGINES . .; ., , , . . . 179
Patents a rotary engine — Designs a reciprocating engine
with radial cylinders — And gas engines — The turbine —
Patents the single-double-flow turbine — And a reaction-
impulse type — The reduction gear — Some by-products
—Propeller experiments — Condenser improvements,

CONTENTS xi

CHAPTER PAGE

XI. THE TUKBO-GENERATOR . . .^ .; :i- «^ X .' 201
Its industrial importance — Some details — Displaces the'
engine-type generator — The course of development —
Some of the difficulties.

XII. SIGNALLING AND INTERLOCKING 212

What they are and what they do — Westinghouse brought
in the use of power — Hydropneumatic systems — Elec-
tropneumatic — The first power interlocking — Slow
progress in the United States— Effects of power signal-
ling and interlocking.

XIII. NATURAL GAS 224

Westinghouse begins in 1883 — Takes out thirty-eight
patents — Special dangers in the use of natural gas — The
Philadelphia Company — Results — Pittsburgh without
smoke — Fuel gas.

XIV. VARIOUS INTERESTS AND ACTIVITIES .... 233
Lamps — Nernst lamp — Cooper Hewitt lamp — Rectifier

— Multiple-unit control — Car, Air, and Electric Coupler
— Research — Telephone — Board of Patent Control — Air
spring — The steel car — Copper.

XV. EUROPEAN ENTERPRISES 262

World-wide plans — British Westinghouse Electric and
Manufacturing Company — The underlying idea correct
but too early — The Clyde Valley Electrical Power Com-
pany— The central-station idea in practice — Making
brakes hi France — The Italian company — The Russian
Brake Company — Ten or a dozen lesser companies — The
broad results.

XVI. FINANCIAL METHODS — REORGANIZATION — EQUI-
TABLE-LIFE EPISODE 273

Westinghouse and the bankers — Did his own financing —
Risked his own money — The influence of personality —
An idealist — Never speculated — The receiverships of
1907 — The reorganization — Equitable Life episode — The
trusteeship.

XVII. THE PERSONALITY OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE . 287
Relations with his men — The family spirit — The Amber

PAGE

xii CONTENTS

Club — His ethical influence — An enlightened humani-
tarian— The Air Brake Company as an example of his
policies — Personal characteristics — More than a genius
— Education — Some encounters with the laws of nature
— Not a sceptic.

XVIII. THE MEANING OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE . .

His life was history: an agent of civilization — Transpor-
tation and progress — Brakes and signals and transporta-
tion— The first four names in the evolution of transpor-
tation— The manufacture of power and the New Era —
An ethnical epoch — Effect of the alternating current in
the New Era.

APPENDIX — PATENTS . . . 331

320

INDEX . . 369

ILLUSTRATIONS

George Westinghouse Frontispiece

George Westinghouse, Senior Faces page 2

Chart of Westinghouse Companies Pages 12 and 13

Type "H" automatic quick-action triple valve . . Faces page 5*

Westinghouse friction draft-gear " "78

George Westinghouse at work " "106

Steam turbine and Corliss engine " " 184

Parsons single-flow and Westinghouse single-double-
flow turbines «• "188

Turbo-generator and engine-type generator .... " " 206

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY

The advance of mankind has everywhere depended on the production of
men of genius. — HUXLEY.

GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE was born in the little village of
Central Bridge, New York, October 6, 1846. He came of
Westphalian stock. His great-grandfather, John Hendrik
Westinghouse, came to America with his mother, a widow,
in 1755, John being then fifteen years old. They settled
in that part of New Hampshire Grants which later became
Vermont, at Pownal, Bennington Comity. It was a good
place to settle. It was one of the little foci of the free co-
lonial spirit. It was named for Thomas Pownal (or Pow-
nall), who became Governor of Massachusetts in 1757,
and was a friend of Franklin, of the colonists, and of inter-
colonial union. Carlyle says that he reported to Pitt his
fear that "the French will eat America from us in spite of
our teeth." In Pownal the Westinghouses acquired land
and built a log cabin, and here John cleared the land, raised
a large family, and died in 1802. From him his great-
grandson inherited stature, for John stood six feet four
inches high, and inherited mechanical knack, for John
made for his mother an inlaid wooden work-box while they
were on the ocean. This box is still possessed by a member
of the family.

John's son, John Ferdinand, passed his life in Pownal.
He had twelve children, the fifth of whom was George,
born in 1809 and died in 1884. This George married Ema-

1

2/ \4 LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

k line Vedder and they had ten children, the eighth having
been the George of whom we write. Three generations in
the flanks of the Vermont mountains could hardly evolve
as complete a Yankee as six generations, but in this case
the product was reasonably satisfactory. In simplicity
and energy, in standards of conduct and habit of thought
and in idiom of speech the two Georges could not be dis-
tinguished from their neighbors six or seven generations
out of Devonshire.

A laborious investigator of the family history, a certain
Doctor Carl Alexander von Wistinghausen, writes that
"Members of the family have repeatedly won for them-
selves and their heirs patents of nobility by service ren-
dered to the state." Very likely so; at any rate, there was
energy in the blood. One George was a captain in the
Russian navy and distinguished himself greatly in battle
in command of a frigate, and several of the family were
ennobled in the Russian service. Our George Westing-
house had but mild and casual interest in the annals of the
family and we find only a few fragments concerning the
Wistinghausens or the Westinghouses.

His mother was of Dutch-English stock and was kin to
Elihu Vedder, an American artist of considerable repute.
Both parents came of generations of farmers and me-
chanics, neither rich nor poor, self-respecting, self-reliant,
and competent, the sort of people who make the bulk and
strength of the nation. One has but to study the por-
trait of the father to see where George Westinghouse got
his character. It shows power, courage, dignity, and kind-
ness, and the lofty head indicates not only mental capacity,
but imagination. The mother, too, is said to have had
imagination, taste, and fancy and a real altruism of spirit.
The photographs that we have are not so informing as

George Westinghouse, Senior.

HIS MOTHER AND HIS BROTHERS 3

those of the father, for they were made after she had borne
ten children and had endured much sorrow from the death
of her husband and sons. Doctor Fisher, a minister who
knew the family intimately for many years, writes: "From
his mother he gained vivacity, alertness, and a cheerful
spirit. She was a woman of clear and definite religious
faith and of thoughtful views on great questions. I feel
sure she gave to her son reverence and faithfulness." These
qualities George had in eminent degree, and he and his wife
gave to this mother loving and tender care through the
declining years that she spent in their home.

Three of the sons, John, Albert, and George, served in
the Union army and navy in the Civil War and won com-
missions. Albert was a youth of distinct gifts of mind and
character. The tradition is that he was the most promis-
ing of the sons. He was captured at the battle of Gaines's
Mill, was in Libby Prison a short time, was exchanged, and
received a commission as second lieutenant in the 2d New
York Veteran Volunteer Cavalry. With a comrade he
swam a bayou under fire and brought back a bateau which
was used to ferry over the command. This deed was
mentioned in reports. Albert was killed leading a cavalry-
charge late hi December 1864.

John served as an engineer officer in the navy. After
the war he returned to his father's business in Schenectady.
Here he established a night school and mission, and he
gave time, money, and work to helping the unfortunate.
One of those whom he had befriended, writing in 1913,
says: "That man did a great work for hundreds of poor
little boys and girls, picking them up out of the streets
and helping them to start in a new life. I have acciden-
tally met three men who are holding good positions and
claim they owe all that they are to John Westinghouse."

4 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

This excellent man died comparatively young, and the
writer remembers hearing George Westinghouse say that
the first night in his life that he lay awake was the night
after John died. George was forty-four years old when
John died and for twenty-five years he had led a life that
might have hardened a man's sensibilities.

George, too, had war experience which had its effect
upon his character, for it was his privilege to live through
a great historical period and to take an active part in it.
He was in the middle of his fifteenth year when the Civil
War broke out and he promptly ran away to enlist. With
like promptness his father nipped his military career then,
but two years later, when he was about sixteen and a half,
he was permitted to go'to the war as an enlisted man. After
a little service in the infantry and cavalry he became an
engineer officer in the navy. A boy so young, going into
a veteran army, had little chance for distinction, although
boys but little older, who entered service even later, did
sometimes get to be field officers. The chief interest in
this episode is that it was characteristic of the individual
and the nation. The lads of those days rushed to the
colors with beautiful spirit. Gaily they tramped the weary
marches. Firmly they endured and fought. Gladly they
volunteered for desperate deeds. The records of the War
Department show that 41.4 per cent of the enrolments in
the Union army were boys of eighteen and under, and 77.7
per cent were twenty-one and under.*

Amongst these gallant and ardent youtfcs were the
Westinghouse brothers. The boys did not realize then
what a great thing they were doing. Their historical imagi-
nation was undeveloped. They had little capacity for
analysis or expression. They did their work at the front

* Authority of Lieutenant-General S. B. M. Young, U. S. A.

A LOGICAL PRODUCT 5

and then went home, to college or work, and their war book
was closed and they thought little about it and talked
less. They did not suspect that they were heroes. It
was quite the fashion to think of serving one's country
as an adventure and a privilege and duty. The hero talk
of the platform and the newspapers was a later develop-
ment. The boys of the sixties did not know it, but in mind
and character they were lifted up and strengthened by con-
tact with the deeds and sacrifices of war. They became
the leaders of a nation, which was enriched and strength-
ened beyond estimate by their war training. All of this
Westinghouse came to understand, as the years went on,
but he seldom talked of his war experiences. In an address
delivered a little more than two years before his death he
said: "My early greatest capital was the experience and
skill acquired from the opportunity given me, when I was
young, to work with all kinds of machinery, coupled later
with lessons in that discipline to which a soldier is required
to submit, and the acquirement of a spirit of readiness to
carry out the instructions of superiors."

Of the important place that the youngest brother, Henry
Herman Westinghouse, has taken in the world, we may not
speak here. Many of those who read this volume know it
well.

Briefly, George Westinghouse had an inheritance of
good blood and sound tradition. He was born and reared
in an environment of work, thrift, and responsibility. He
did not happen; he was a logical product, and ran true to
form. An eminent engineer who has been in the Westing-
house service since 1888, writing of his early impressions
of Westinghouse, says: "He did not appeal to me, even
then, as being a wizard, but he seemed to be a plain human
being with lots of initiative, with nerve to attempt difii-

6 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

cult things, and money enough to see them through to
success or failure. He met my ideas of what an engineer
should be. I do not think that my earliest impressions
were changed much in later years. I acquired further
ideas of him as I learned more about him, but these were
additions rather than modifications."

His father had much mechanical skill and ingenuity.
Seven patents for his inventions are now before us and
there are said to be one or two more. These all have the
fundamental qualities of the inventions of his son. Not
one of the son's patents is a flash out of the blue sky or a
vision on the horizon. Every one is calculated to meet a
situation that he has seen in his own practice. Every one
is for something to be made in his own shops and no one
of them was invented to sell or as a speculation. Every
one is worked out with such completeness of detail that a
competent shop foreman could take the Patent Office draw-
ings and specifications and build an operative machine.
In each one we see the engineer and the trained mechanic.
This is true of practically every one of some four hundred
inventions patented by him. The father's inventions were
for comparatively simple mechanisms but they had the
same underlying qualities of practical use and of thorough-
ness in mechanical design. They were for horsepowers,
winnowers, thrashing machines, and a sawing machine, all
of which were the standard product of the Westinghouse
shop at Schenectady. The latest of these patents was
issued in 1865, the year in which the son returned from
his service in the navy, and three months before the issue
of his own first patent.

In 1856 George Westinghouse, Sr., established in Sche-
nectady a shop for making agricultural machinery, mill
machinery, and small steam engines. This shop, bearing

HIS EDUCATION 7

the sign "G. Westinghouse & Co./' long stood at the very
gate of the great works of the General Electric Company.
Here George Westinghouse, Jr., passed a happy and busy
boyhood. This shop was his real academy and college;
his university was the world. In 1865 he was mustered
out, a veteran of the Civil War, an officer, not yet nineteen
years old. In September he entered Union College, Schenec-
tady, as a sophomore and three months later he went back
to the shop. This was the end of his college career. His
father was able and willing to send him through college,
but George preferred active work. There is an old "Hands
Book" of G. Westinghouse & Company now existing.
We find that George began work in the shop at fifty cents
a day in May 1860. He was then thirteen and a half.
He worked into September, and in the next March began
work again at seventy-five cents a day and kept at it till
near the end of September. In March 1862, he began
again at seventy-five cents a day, which was raised in
April to eighty-seven and one-half cents, and at this rate
he worked till the end of February, when he was promoted
to a dollar a day. At the end of April he was raised to
one dollar twelve and one-half cents till the end of Sep-
tember 1863, when the record stops, to be taken up again
in July 1865. In the meantime Uncle Sam had paid him
his modest wages. From this little record we can deduce
quite a number of interesting things, amongst them the con-
clusion that after George Westinghouse was thirteen years
old he had about a year and a half in school and college.
It is not a deduction from this, but it is a fact, that he spoke
and wrote uncommonly good English.

With the return of George Westinghouse to his father's
shop the systematic work of his life began, not to be inter-
rupted until his death forty-nine years later. The first

8 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

patent issued to him, so far as we find, was October 31,
1865, for a rotary steam engine. His work on this inven-
tion had begun two or three years before, and he continued
to invent unceasingly as long as he lived. In his last ill-
ness he designed a wheel chair to be operated by a little
electric motor. The rotary engine was a favorite plaything
for many years, and the writer remembers seeing Westing-
house, when he was forty-five years old, wearing a frock
coat, working over a rotary engine in his shop in an interval
between a board meeting and a reception. It was the
equivalent of a rubber of bridge, or a game of golf. It is
hardly necessary to say that the rotary engine never served
any other purpose except that it may have affected his
line of thought when he took up the steam turbine, as will
be told in the chapter on steam engines. Westinghouse
would not have said that this is exactly true. He used to
relate that a small boy who had made a picture of a minister
and found it unsatisfactory added a tail and called it a dog.
Encouraged by this, Westinghouse turned his rotary en-
gine around and made an excellent water meter of it, and
established another industry.

Patents for a car replacer (for rerailing a car or engine),
and for a railroad frog followed in 1867, 1868, and 1869,
and these inventions were the foundation of a little busi-
ness which seemed to a courageous young man to justify his
marriage, which took place August 8, 1867, that is before
he was twenty-one. His courtship was as impetuous as
that of Lord Randolph Churchill, who was engaged to Miss
Jerome three days after he first saw her. Westinghouse
met Marguerite Erskine Walker by chance on a railroad
train. That evening he told his father and mother that he
had met the woman he was going to marry. The wedding
soon followed. Mrs. Westinghouse was a devoted wife and

MARRIAGE AND FIRST HOME 9

survived her husband but three months. For nearly forty-
seven years they lived together, and through these years
affection, faith, and trust never flagged. When they were
on the same continent there was daily communication by
telephone, after the long-distance telephone was developed.
When they were separated by the Atlantic there was a daily
cable message. They died respectively in March and June
1914, and are buried in the National Cemetery at Arling-
ton. Their only child is George Westinghouse, 3d.

Their first home was "Solitude," in the Homewood dis-
trict of Pittsburgh. Here a substantial old house was added
to and changed until it became a commodious dwelling, and
handsome lawns and gardens grew with fortune. This
home was always hi commission, however long or far they
might wander. It was the seat of a large and handsome
hospitality. There were few houses in the land in which
one would meet such a number and variety of interesting
people as passed through that simple and comfortable home.
In course of time they established another home at Lenox,
Massachusetts, which was, in later years, the favorite resi-
dence of Mrs. Westinghouse. For a few years they main-
tained a house in Washington during the season, but it
never became one of their homes.

The foundation of the fame and fortune of George West-
inghouse was the air brake. His first brake patent was
issued April 13, 1869, he being then twenty-two and a
half years old, and still resident at Schenectady. It was
reissued July 29, 1873, the inventor being then resident
in Pittsburgh. In the years between he had taken out
twenty or more other patents on details of brake apparatus.
His attorneys were Bakewell, Christy & Kerr. All of these
gentlemen (now dead) became eminent in patent law, but
they had no greater professional pleasure and distinction

10 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

than this of having helped at the birth of the air brake.
The twenty-odd air-brake patents issued in the four years
to the middle of 1873 by no means exhausted the foun-
tains of invention in that art. They continued to flow
copiously for years; the particulars will be related in other
chapters.

In a system of traffic control the relations of brakes and
signals are close, and it was natural that the attention of
Westinghouse should have been engaged by experiments,
inventions, and practice that he saw developing in Eng-
land and at home. As early as 1880 he acquired the Amer-
ican rights for English patents for interlocking switches
and signals, and about the same time he bought certain
American patents for the control of signals by track cir-
cuits. This was the foundation of another great industry
which will be described in a later chapter. In this field
Westinghouse made radical and highly important inven-
tions, taking out numerous patents; but so many interests
crowded upon him that, although his productive activity
in signalling and interlocking was intense for a few years,
the period was comparatively short. In one year, 1881,
for instance, we find six patents in signalling and interlock-
ing, one of them fundamental and revolutionary. In the
same year we find ten brake patents, one for a telephone
switch and four in other arts — twenty-one patents in one
year.

The eleven years 1880-1890 inclusive brought many
great things and were a period of prodigious activity. In
those years the Westinghouse Brake Company, Limited
(British) was started; the Union Switch & Signal Company
was launched; the natural-gas episode began, and the Phila-
delphia Company was formed; the Westinghouse Machine
Company, the Westinghouse Electric Company, and the

A GREAT DECADE 11

Westinghouse Electric Company, Limited (British) were
started; the quick-action brake was produced, and thus
the one great crisis in the history of the air brake was met
and triumphantly passed; and, perhaps most important
of all, Westinghouse revolutionized the electric art by his
vision of the possibilities of the alternating current. The
particulars of all these deeds will be set forth in their proper
places. Here we only ask attention to the capacity for
work, the boldness of conception, and the marvellous ac-
tivity of creative imagination shown by Westinghouse from
the beginning of his thirty-fourth year to the end of his
forty-fourth. He did many things and great things in the
twenty-four years that followed, but it is not an unreason-
able suggestion that those eleven years were the years of
his greatest creative power. In those years he took out
134 patents, an average of over one patent a month, and he
stimulated and directed the work of many other inventors.
Meanwhile he began and carried forward the financial and
administrative organization of several companies, each
one of which might have absorbed the energies of an ordi-
nary man. His commercial and technical activities were
felt in England and on the continent of Europe, and he
established personal relations with philosophers, as well as
with financial and business men, in many countries, and
he was not yet forty-five. Bacon says: "A man that is
Young in Yeares may be old in Houres, if he have lost no
Time. But that happeneth rarely. Generally, youth is like
the first Cogitations, not so Wise as the Second. For there is
a youth in thoughts as well as in Ages. And yet the Inven-
tion of Young Men is more lively than that of Old: And
Imaginations streame into their mindes better and, as it were
more divinely." It would be hard to say when imagina-
tions streamed most divinely into the mind of Westinghouse.

WESTTNGHOUSE ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED

1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1929

WESTINGHOUSE AIR BRAKE CO.

WESTINCHOUSE EUROPEAN BRAKE CO.

COMPAGNIE DES FREINS WESTINCHOUSE

AMERICAN BRAKE CO.

WESTINGHOUSE BRAKE CO., LTD.

WESTINGHOUSE MACHINE CO.

WESTINGHOUSE FOUNDRY CO.

UNION SWITCH & SIGNAL CO.

WESTINGHOUSE CO. (SCHENECTADY)

PHILADELPHIA COMPANY

WESTINGHOUSE BREMSEN GESELLSCHAFT

WESTINGHOUSE, CHURCH, KERR ft CO.

SAWYER-MAN ELECTRIC CO.

WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CO.

CONSOLIDATED ELECTRIC LIGHT CO.

UNITED ELECTRIC LIGHT ft POWER CO.

FUEL GAS AND ELECTRICAL ENG'R'C CO.

EAST PITTSBURGH IMPROVEMENT CO.

WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC ft MANUFACTURING CO.

WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CO., LTD. (LONDON)

BRYANT ELECTRIC COMPANY

PITTSBURGH METER CO.

WATERHOUSE ELECTRIC CO.

PERKINS ELECTRIC SWITCH MANUFACTURING CO,

STANDARD UNDERGROUND CABLE CO.

STANDARD CAR HEATING ft VENTILATING CO.

R. D. NUTTALL CO.

WESTINGHOUSE CLASS CO.

WORLD'S FAIR EQUIPMENT CO.

ELECTRO-MAGNETIC TRACTION CO.'

SECURITY INVESTMENT CO.

EMERY PNEUMATIC LUBRICATOR CO.

FRENCH WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC co.

MANHATTAN GENERAL CONSTRUCTION OX

WALKER ELECTRIC CO.

SOCIETE* ANONYME WESTINGHOUSE (RUSSIA)

BRITISH WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC ft MFG. CO.

WESTINGHOUSE PATENT BUREAU (LONDON)

NERNST LAMP CO.

CLYDE VALLEY ELECTRIC POWER CO., LTD.

TRACTION ft POWER SECURITIES CO.

WESTINGHOUSE AUTOMATIC AIR ft STEAM COUPLER CO.

SOCIETE ANONYME WESTINGHOUSE (FRANCE)

WESTINGHOUSE ELEKTRICITAETS-GESELLSCHAFT, ro. K H.

WESTINGHOUSE TRACTION BRAKE CO.

COOPER HEWITT ELECTRIC CO.

TRAFFORD WATER CO.

WESTINGHOUSE INTERWORKS RAILWAY CO.

McCANDLESS LAMP CO.

CANADIAN WESTINGHOUSE CO., LTD.

LAURENTIDE MICA CO., LTD.

COMPAGNIA ITALIANA WESTINGHOUSE DEI FRENI

12

•CD

WESTINGHOUSE ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED

1870 1880 1690 1900 1910 1920

CIE. INT. PR. LE CHAUPGE DES CHEM'SDE FER SYSTEME HEINTZ, LTD.
WESTINGHOUSE METAL FILAMENT LAMP CO.
SOCIETE ELECTRIQUE WESTINGHOUSE DE RUSSIE
UNITED PUMP & POWER COMPANY
NATIONAL BRAKE & ELECTRIC CO.
WESTINGHOUSE COOPER HEWITT CO., LTD.

WESTINGHOUSE METALLFADEN CLUHLAMPENFABRIK GESELLSCHAFT
MILWAUKEE LOCOMOTIVE MANUFACTURING CO.
SOCIETA ITALIANA •WESTINGHOUSE
WESTINGHOUSE BRAKE CO. LTD. (AUSTRALASIA)
McKENZIE-HOLLAND & WESTINGHOUSE POWER SIGNAL CO.. LTD.
WESTINGHOUSE LAMP CO.
BERGMANN ELECTRIC WERKE, A. G.

SOCIETE ANONYME PR. SEXPLOITATION DES PROCEDES WESTINGHOUSE LEBLANC
SOCIETE HONGROISE D'AUTO SYSTEME WESTINGHOUSB
TRAFFORD REAL ESTATE CO.
WESTINGHOUSE FRICTION DRAFT GEAR CO.
PITTSBURGH HIGH VOLTAGE INSULATOR CO.
WESTINGHOUSE AIR SPRING CO. ,
COMPAGNIE DES LAMPES A FlIlM^ENTS METALLIQUES
COMP. POUR LES APPLICATIONS DES RAYONS ULTRA-VIOLET (FRANCE)
SOC. INT. POUR LES APPLICATIONS DES RAYONS ULTRA-VIOLET (BELGIUM)
COPEMAN ELECTRIC STOVE CO.
WESTINGHOUSE PACIFIC COAST BRAKE CO.
ELECTRIC PROPERTIES CORPORATION

WESTINGHOUSE NORSK ELEKTRISK AKT1ENSELSKAP

WESTINGHOUSE GEAR & DYNAMOMETER CO.

LOCOMOTIVE STOKER CO.

CANADIAN CONCRETE PRODUCTS CO.. LTD.

NATIONAL STEEL FOUNDRIES

KRANTZ MANUFACTURING CO.. INC.

FOUNTAIN ELECTRICAL FLOOR BOX CORP.

PAGE-STORM DROP FORGE CO.

NEW ENGLAND WESTINGHOUSE CO.

WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC EXPORT CO.

J. STEVENS ARMS CO.

MERIDEN FIRE ARMS CO.

TURTLE CREEK &, ALLEGHENY VALLEY R. R. CO.

WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC PRODUCTS CO.

SOUTH PHILADELPHIA CO.

WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC INTERNATIONAL COMPANY

INTERBOROUGH IMPROVEMENT CO.

FRANKLIN ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING CO.

EAST PITTSBURGH & WILMERDING COAL CO.

WESTINGHOUSE AIR BRAKE HOME BUILDING CO.

GEORGE CUTTER CO.

NATIONAL UTILITIES CORPORATION

WESTINGHOUSE UNION BATTERY CO.

INTERNATIONAL RADIO TELEGRAPH COMPANY, THE

MANSFIELD VITREOUS ENAMELING COMPANY, THE

WESTINGHOUSE BRAKE & SAXBY SIGNAL CO.. LTD.

OF COMPANIES INDICATED AS POLLOWSi

14 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

We have no yardstick by which to measure them. They
are only partly revealed in his inventions; and inventions,
in the narrow sense of the word, were not by any means
the greatest of his imaginations. We shall see, as we go
on, conceptions and visions which have affected mankind
far more than anything that he invented. But the number
of his patented inventions gives us a quick notion of his
fertility. We have seen that in an amazing eleven years
he took out more than a patent a month; but for forty-
eight years he took out a patent every month and a half.

A quick and comprehensive view of the extent of his
work in organizing companies is given in the table of West-
inghouse companies inserted here. The table includes a
very few companies which Westinghouse did not establish,
and in which he personally or through his other companies
never owned a majority of the stock. In those companies
he did have investments of more or less importance, and he
did, during their formative years, exercise great and even
controlling influence. He served them as president and
director, or perhaps with no office but with money or credit.
He was never an idle passenger in any enterprise. A pic-
ture of his life would not be complete without a glimpse
of such companies, but it does not seem wise to take the
reader's time or to divert his attention by circumstantial
accounts of them. One of the more important of these
companies of temporary interest to him is the Standard
Underground Cable Company, of which Westinghouse was
president ten years, 1886-1896, and which is now the largest
maker of electric wires and cables in the United States, with
an annual gross business of about $35,000,000. The present
president, Mr. Joseph W. Marsh, says: "The value of Mr.
Westinghouse's connection with the company soon made
itself felt in increased business and the changing of annual

VARIED ACTIVITIES 15

losses into profits. Although his official connection with the
company terminated in 1896 he always manifested a friendly
and helpful interest in its progress during the remainder of
his life, and such interest on his part never failed to trans-
late itself in tangible and practical ways that were of great
value."

As soon as the air brake was fairly under way in America
Westinghouse took it to England, and within ten years,
that is, before he was thirty-five, he had organized companies
and established shops in England, France, and Russia. . He
was famous and had a fortune sufficient for his moderate
needs. We have taken the years 1880 and 1890 as possibly
the period of Westinghouse's greatest creative power; but
from what has just been said it is seen that the earlier dec-
ade ending with 1880 was rich in accomplishment, but it
was confined mostly to the brake.

After 1890 the years were crowded with great events.
The crisis of 1893 almost swamped the Electric Company,
but it emerged safely. The company secured the contract
for lighting the Columbian Exposition of 1893 at Chicago
and made a brilliant technical success. This encouraged
the development of the company's incandescent lamp
industry, and, what was much more important, it had a
great influence on the direction and progress of the broader
activities of Westinghouse and his engineers in the electri-
cal field. It affected his thought and it strengthened his
position in the fierce struggle just opening up. In Oc-
tober 1893, the company took the contract for the first
electric generators at Niagara Falls. This was a revolu-
tionary event in the development of the electric art — ro-
mantic in conception and dramatic in execution. Many
eminent men of various nations took part in the prelimi-
nary studies, and the foundations of some great reputations

16 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

in electrical engineering were laid there. The world-mean-
ing of the episode was that the question of the distribution
and use of power through the agency of the alternating
electric current was settled for all time. For Westinghouse
this was a personal victory; some estimate of its meaning
to mankind will be attempted later in this volume.

We may now turn back a few years. Late in 1883 West-
inghouse became interested hi the production and distribu-
tion of natural gas, and in 1884 the Philadelphia Company
was formed to carry on that industry. In a few years he
took out thirty-eight gas patents, mostly for means of dis-
tribution and control, and he practically created a new art.
These were amongst the 134 patents taken out in the years
1880-1890.

It was a logical consequence of the natural-gas episode
that Westinghouse should become interested in gas en-
gines and in the manufacture of fuel gas. The Westing-
house Machine Company, founded by a younger brother,
Henry Herman Westinghouse, and later taken over by
George, developed and built gas engines of great size and
in large numbers. They also built gas producers with some
success, but the producer-gas enterprise was disappoint-
ing.

About 1895 Westinghouse became interested in the steam
turbine and this was an absorbing interest till his death.
He continued incessantly to study, invent, and design,
and his work profoundly influenced the development of
the art. Eventually building turbines became much the
largest part of the work of the Westinghouse Machine Com-
pany, and, working with the Electric Company, they built
many turbo-generator units for power houses, some of
them of immense size. The marine side of the industry
developed more slowly but it is now very important. The

SUNDRY HONORS 17

efficient speed of a propeller is low; the efficient speed of
a turbine is high; consequently, great efficiency cannot be
got from a direct-connected unit. Two possibilities were
obvious, to modify the propeller or to interpose between
the turbine and JJtie propeller a reduction gear. Westing-
house made many ingenious, interesting, and costly pro-
peller experiments which so far have been of no practical
value. He took up simultaneously (about 1909) a reduc-
tion gear invented by Admiral Melville, U. S. N.; and Mr.
MacAlpine — a novel and highly interesting conception.
This gear is now much used in turbine-driven ships of
the navy.

In 1905 came the explosion in the Equitable Life Assur-
ance Society, which led to the purchase of the stock by
Mr. Ryan and the appointment of three trustees to control
the reorganization and management of that great concern
of international importance. The trustees chosen were
Grover Cleveland, Morgan J. O'Brien, and George Westing-
house. As a tribute to character this was one of the greatest
honors that Westinghouse ever received, although he had
been recognized in many ways. He was a Doctor of Phil-
osophy, Union College; Doctor of Engineering, Koenig-
liche Technische Hochschule, Berlin; decorated with the
Legion of Honor, the Order of the Crown of Italy, and
the Order of Leopold, Belgium. He received the Grashof
medal, perhaps the highest engineering honor in Germany,
and the John Fritz medal, a great engineering honor in
America, and the Edison medal of the American Institute
of Electrical Engineers. He was one of the two honorary
members of the American Association for the Advance-
ment of Science and was an honorary member and served a
term as president of The American Society of Mechanical
Engineers. He declined honorary degrees from several

18 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

colleges in America. One only heard of these honors by
accident; Westinghouse shrank instinctively from titles.
"George Westinghouse" was distinction enough for him.
There was unconscious recognition of this distinction in
a press cable to Europe giving the names of the trustees
chosen for the Equitable Life: "Grover Cleveland, ex-
President of the United States; Morgan J. O'Brien, Justice
of the Supreme Court of New York, and George Westing-
house."

In the years from 1893 to 1907 the business of the nu-
merous Westinghouse companies grew enormously. It is
estimated that 50,000 people were employed in production
and distribution. The Westinghouse shops were scattered
from San Francisco to St. Petersburg. In all these activi-
ties Westinghouse had a constant part in executive conduct
as well as in planning and administration — perhaps apart
too close and constant for the best results. He was a pro-
lific inventor, a bold and resourceful financier, a man of
capacious imagination and foresight as to things to be done,
and a powerful executive; but perhaps he was not a great
administrator. Lord Fisher, paradoxical "Jackey," said
that "no great commander is ever a good administrator."
One may guess that he had in mind the thought that a
"good" administrator is too much bound by the formulas
of seniority and precedence, for he also said: "Some day
the Empire will go down because it is Buggins's turn,"
and at another time he said: "Favoritism is the secret of
efficiency." Doubtless Lord Fisher would have called
Westinghouse a great commander. Whether or not he was
a great administrator is debated amongst those who knew
him best and appreciated him most. At any rate, some-
times the administrative machinery absorbed more of his
time and thought than it ought. But in spite of an over-

NEVER BEATEN 19

burden of administrative care, his teeming mind went on
through these later years inventing, contriving, and or-
ganizing.

In 1907 came the tragedy of Westinghouse's life. The
great panic caused the failure and receivership of the Elec-
tric Company, the Machine Company, and some minor
companies, but did not affect the Air Brake Company
or the Union Switch & Signal Company. A reorganiza-
tion was eventually brought about, based upon a brilliant
project devised by Westinghouse, but the actual control
of the Electric Company passed out of his hands, and in
less than four years he ceased to have any official relations
with the company. It was a terrific blow. The writer
remembers passing, one night, the great works at East
Pittsburgh brilliantly lit up. As we came in sight of the
electric sign "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing
Company," Westinghouse turned his face toward the bleak
hills on the other side of the way with an expression so
pathetic, so tragic, as to wring one's heart. Not a word
was spoken for a long time.

At lunch one day either Mr. Charles Terry, or the writer
told Westinghouse that some one said he never knew
when he was beaten. Perhaps he took this as some re-
flection on his intelligence. He flashed up: "I should know
if I were beaten — but I never was beaten." And he never
was. The game might be lost, but the indomitable spirit
was not beaten. The short years of his life that remained
after the tragedy were filled with the same unceasing ac-
tivity and the same undying hope. The affairs of the
Machine Company, the development of the steam turbine
and of the reduction gear, the invention and development
of an air spring for automobiles, and various minor inter-
ests completely filled the busy hours of the long days.

20 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

Late in 1913 the magnificent structure gave way. An or-
ganic disease of the heart developed. The quizzical humor
still lived, the inventive spirit still was active, but the
body slowly faded away, and on March 12, 1914, he died.

CHAPTER II

THE AIR BRAKE

WE do not go far in the life of Westinghouse before we
realize that he made two fundamental contributions to
civilization:

First, he advanced the art of transportation by the in-
vention and development of the air brake.

Second, he advanced the manufacture of power by the
development of the use of the alternating current in the
distributing and applying power by electricity.

Just what we mean by "manufacture of power" will be
discussed later; of course we do not mean creation of power.
The improvement of transportation and the manufac-
ture of power have been amongst the major elements in
human progress. Of that, too, more will be said later.
It is enough to say here that Westinghouse helped the
evolution of transportation by an early set of activities
and he helped the manufacture of power by a later set of
activities. We shall now consider the air brake as the
first and most important of the activities in the field of
transportation.

The life of George Westinghouse illustrates and confirms
the statement that the faculties of observation and reflec-
tion necessarily precede invention. Keen observation and
intense reflection are the stepping-stones by which the in-
ventive mind rises into creative effort. Westinghouse was
a close observer, and the results of his observations, stored
in a powerful memory, were the mental grist that his active

21

22 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

mind worked over, sometimes for years, until it came forth
in some form to contribute to the safety, happiness, and
support of his fellow men.

Westinghouse's earlier inventions were important in
setting the current of his career and developing his char-
acteristic tendencies, and he came to be one of the most
prolific of inventors. In forty-eight years he took out some
400 patents in many arts; that is to say a patent every
month and a half of his working life. He developed the
use of natural gas and took out thirty-eight patents in that
art. He did important work in power signalling and inter-
locking. He made many inventions in steam engineering.
When we look over his life we discover that his labors
for the advancement of the electric science and art may
have done quite as much for the progress of civilization
as the development of the air brake, but he is best known
to mankind by the brake. It is by this that the people
know him, and this is always first mentioned in his recog-
nitions and honors from governments and learned societies.
As we proceed, some effort will be made to point out the
absolute and relative place in history of his various doings,
but at the moment we are concerned only with the story
of the brake.

We have said elsewhere that each of the inventions of
Westinghouse was made to meet some need that he saw.
The occurrence that led to the invention of the air brake
was the mischief that followed a head-on collision which
might have been avoided had means for the prompt and
powerful application of brakes been available. This inci-
dent happened on the railway between Schenectady and
Troy in 1866.

The first form of power brake that occurred to Westing-
house was a buffer brake, the brakes on each individual

THE DAWN OF THE BRAKE 23

car being automatically applied by impact when the brakes
were set on the locomotive. After some shop experiments,
this idea was abandoned for a design that contemplated
a coupled chain running through the length of the train,
by which the car brakes could be applied through the manip-
ulation of some power device on the locomotive. Visiting
Chicago with this in mind, he found a chain brake installed
on the Aurora Accommodation of the Chicago, Burlington
& Quincy Railroad which, in a large measure, anticipated
his own idea and at the same time demonstrated its in-
herent weakness. This brake, patented in 1862, was the
invention of Augustine I. Ambler, of Milwaukee. His Chi-
cago experience led Westinghouse to design a chain brake
in which a steam cylinder under the locomotive displaced
Ambler's clumsy friction-drive windlass for tightening the
brake chain.

This idea was superseded by a more practical one, through
the thought that, in order to avoid excessive slack, each
car must have its independent brake cylinder, supplied
with steam from the locomotive by a continuous pipe with
the necessary flexible couplings between the cars. At this
stage of his study, when he was wrestling with the problem
of condensation, occurred the interesting and almost roman-
tic incident of the magazine subscription which he made
while at work in the Westinghouse shop at Schenectady
at "the solicitation of a young woman, evidently for per-
sonal reasons and not because of any particular interest in
the magazine. As it happened, this purchase turned out
to be one of the most important he ever made, although
he never saw the fair agent again. The first or second num-
ber of the magazine received brought to his eager attention
an illustrated article on the Mont Cenis tunnel, then under
construction. Both headings of this tunnel, then 3000 or

24 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

more feet from the entrances, were being driven by rock
drills worked by compressed air. This gave him his cue
in a flash, and thereafter his efforts were centered on brake
designs in which the operating force was compressed air
as the medium for transmitting power from the locomotive
to the brake mechanism on each car. Acting with his usual
promptness, he embodied his new ideas in a set of drawings,
and at once began to look for financial help to defray the
cost of making the apparatus needed for a practical demon-
stration. As he travelled about the country soliciting orders
for his railway frog, he had opportunities to present the
matter of his air brake to many railway officials whom he
endeavored to interest in his invention, and whose coopera-
tion he sought for its development. As he himself says:
"None of those approached appeared to have faith in the
idea, though I afterward found that the acquaintances
made and the many discussions I had had with railway
people were of great advantage later in the introduction
of the air brake on the railways with which they were con-
nected."

Meanwhile, on July 10, 1868, he filed a caveat in the
Patent Office which marked the beginning of a long series
of patents relating to the air-brake art, totalling 103 be-
tween the year 1869 and the year 1907, when he filed
his last air-brake patent. In this first caveat Westing-
house describes himself as George Westinghouse, Junior, of
Schenectady, New York, but the affidavit accompanying
it was made before Alderman Nicholson at Pittsburgh on
June 24, 1868, and the specifications are attested by A. S.
Nicholson and George H. Christy, the last mentioned of
whom was from that time forward until his death in 1909
one of Westinghouse's patent counsel. Earlier in 1868,
Westinghouse had spent considerable time in Pittsburgh,

WHO INVENTED THE AIR BRAKE? 25

where his railway frog was being manufactured by Anderson
& Cook; and had made an arrangement with Mr. Ralph
Baggaley of that city to bear the cost of making the first
brake apparatus.

WHO INVENTED THE AIR BRAKE?

As we take up a description of the apparatus and an ac-
count of its introduction, let us note that the first air-brake
patent of George Westinghouse was 88,929, dated April 13,
1869. This patent was reissued July 29, 1873, as 5504.
It is in the proceedings and decision of the U. S. Circuit
Court of Appeals for the Northern District of New York
in the suit brought by George Westinghouse, Jr., against
the Gardner & Ransom Air Brake Company, based prin-
cipally on this reissued patent, that the whole question of
Westinghouse's claim to be the original inventor of the first
form of air brake is thoroughly thrashed out and judicially
determined. Voluminous testimony was taken from April
to November 1874. The case was tried at Cleveland, Ohio,
before Justice Swayne and Judge Walker, and from the
court's decision, handed down June 16, 1875, the following
excerpts are taken:

The case was argued exhaustively, and at great length,
by able and eminent counsel. The importance of the case,
and the large interests involved, as well as the value of the
invention itself to the patentee and to the public at large,
fully justified the elaborate discussion which the case re-
ceived, and rendered necessary the careful consideration
which we have given to it. The printed record covers about
750 pages; and nearly thirty patents and provisional speci-
fications offered in evidence by the defendant on the issue
of novelty and priority of invention, and not included in
the printed record, were discussed at the hearing.

The issue of novelty was most vigorously contested.

26 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

As already stated, nearly thirty United States and Eng-
lish patents, and English provisional specifications, were
offered in evidence on part of the defendant and voluminous
expert testimony was taken with reference thereto.

As to all of these in their bearings on the claims last
above referred to, our opinion is the same as above stated.
They go to show that Westinghouse was not the first to
conceive the idea of operating railway brakes by air pres-
sure, and that he was not the inventor of the larger part
of the devices employed for such purposes. But such fact
does not detract at all from his merit or rights as a success-
ful inventor. The organisms covered by the fourth and fifth
claims of his patent reissue 5504, seem to have been entirely
new with him, and the incorporation of these elements,
together with that of graduating the air pressure in the
brake cylinders — also shown to be new and of the highest
importance and utility — in claims 1, 2, 3, and 6, with other
substantial and material differences not necessary to enu-
merate, fully substantiate his pretensions as an original
and meritorious inventor, and entitle him as such to the
amplest protection of the law.

Suggestive as these prior patents and provisional speci-
fications may have been, they do not any of them embody
that which Westinghouse has invented and claimed, and
a prior description of a part cannot invalidate a patent for
the whole.

So far as appears from the testimony in this case, none
of the alleged prior inventions of air-brake apparatus have
ever successfully been applied to practical use, and when
we consider the immense importance of the introduction of
the air brake on railroads, and the incalculable benefit which
it has conferred on the public in the readiness and certainty
with which trains can thereby be controlled, and the com-
parative immunity from accidents thus secured, and also
the number of devices which have been patented for this
purpose, in connection with the fact that Westinghouse
was the first, so far as appears in the record and proofs,
to put an air brake into successful actual use — such con-
siderations only strengthen and confirm the soundness of

WHO INVENTED THE AIR BRAKE? 27

the conclusions to which a careful examination of these
prior patents has led us — that there are substantial and
essential differences between these prior patents and the
Westinghouse apparatus, and that to these differences we
may justly attribute the successful and extensive introduc-
tion of the Westinghouse air brake.

All of this goes to show that there is very little new under
the sun in the sense of complete and unanticipated inven-
tions, as every student of the history of patents knows. A
famous inventor says that "our ancestors were very dis-
honest. They stole all our best inventions." In 1868 West-
inghouse was only twenty-two years old. His experience
in taking out patents was limited, and his knowledge of the
prior art of power braking was confined to the steam brake
of Goodale and the mechanical brakes of Ambler and Lough-
ridge. Therefore, he was an independent but not original
discoverer of the fundamental idea of applying brakes to
the wheels of all the vehicles in a train through the instru-
mentality of air, compressed by an independent, steam-
driven air pump, stored in a tank or reservoir and conveyed
at will by pipes to brake cylinders under the cars. From
1852 onward, various patentees in England and the United
States filed applications disclosing this general purpose,
and partly or wholly providing for and describing in more
or less detail the principal devices necessary to accomplish
it. None of these patents, however, nor all of them to-
gether, covered a complete and workable combination, as
did Westinghouse's original patent which, in addition to
all the essential devices enumerated and described in the
previous patents, provided at least two additional novel
devices equally important in actual operation. The first
of these was the three-way cock which served as the first
form of engineer's brake valve, and the other was the hose

28 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

coupling for connecting the air pipes between the cars.
These couplings contained automatic valves so arranged
that when the couplings were parted the valves closed and
retained any existing air pressure in the brake pipes and
the cylinders. In case of a break in two, this feature per-
mitted the continued use of the brakes on the portion of
the train attached to the locomotive and was most impor-
tant, since otherwise air would have passed through and
out of the train pipe and the operation of the brakes would
have been entirely destroyed.

These two mechanical elements, original with Westing-
house, in combination with the other devices, some of which
were already known, formed the basis of his first air-brake
invention; but the immediate and later success of the West-
inghouse brake was not due so much to the ingenuity of
the inventor in providing the missing links and working
out this particular combination as to other factors. It was
not the ideas described in his patent and embodied in the
apparatus built and shown in a machine shop in Pittsburgh
in 1868 that were principally responsible for the amazing
train of events which followed so fast. It was the man be-
hind the idea, with his vision, his will, his courage, and his
commercial instinct. As mere invention, Westinghouse's
subsequent contributions to the air-brake art were far more
novel and brilliant than his original conception, and like-
wise of much greater importance, both mechanically and
commercially. The great underlying thing to understand
and to remember is that he created a new art and a beau-
tiful art. The magnitude of that art, its complexity, and
the time, the skill, and the patience that went to its build-
ing, we shall try to show.

THE FIRST STEP INj ITS USE 29

THE FIRST AIR-BRAKED TRAINS

The first step toward the successful use of compressed
air in braking railway trains had to be taken in the long
trail that leads from the crude and simple straight-air brake
of 1868 to the complicated and powerful automatic ap-
paratus now in use, and that first step was taken by George
Westinghouse on a momentous day in September 1868,
when the Steubenville Accommodation on the Panhandle
Railroad, equipped with brake apparatus designed by him
and built, not only under his supervision, but partly with
his own hands, began its initial trip from the Union Station
in Pittsburgh.

The essential parts of the air brake as first assembled
were:

An air pump driven by a steam engine receiving its sup-
ply from the boiler of the locomotive;

A main reservoir on the locomotive into which air was
compressed to about sixty or seventy pounds per square
inch;

A pipe leading from the reservoir to a valve mechanism
convenient to the engineer;

Brake cylinders for the tender and each car;

A line of pipe from the engineer's brake valve passing
under the tender and all of the cars, with a connection to
each brake cylinder. Flexible hose connections between
the cars provided with couplings having valves which were
automatically opened when the two parts of the couplings
were joined and automatically closed when the couplings
were separated.

The piston of each cylinder was attached to the ordi-
nary hand-brake gear, and when the piston was thrust out-
ward by the admission of compressed air, the brakes were

30 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

applied. When the engineer had occasion to stop his train,
he admitted the air from the reservoir on the locomotive
into the brake cylinders through the train pipe. The pis-
tons of all cylinders were, it was then supposed, simultane-
ously moved to set all of the brakes with a force depending
upon the amount of air admitted through the valve under
the control of the engineer. To release the brakes the handle
of the brake valve was moved so as to cut off communica-
tion with the reservoir, and then to open a passage from the
brake pipe to the atmosphere, permitting the air which
had been admitted to the pipes and cylinders to escape.
This primitive but useful and successful brake came to be
known as the straight-air brake, as distinguished from the
automatic brake which displaced it entirely in a few years —
we shall see why. The vital difference is that in the straight-
air brake increase of pressure in the train pipe applies the
brakes. In the automatic brake Decrease of pressure ap-
plies the brakes. That is why it is automatic. If the train
is torn in two or if a hose connection between two cars bursts
the brakes go on; with the straight-air brake they would
go out of action.

The success of the apparatus on the first train was fol-
lowed by the equipment of a train of six cars on the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad, and in September 1869, this train was
placed at the disposal of the Association of Master Me-
chanics, representing many railways, then in session at
Pittsburgh. The train was run to Altoona and the air
brakes alone were used to control the speed of the train
on the eastern slope of the Alleghanies, and special stops
were made at the steepest places on the line in such un-
precedentedly short distances as to establish in the minds of
all present the fact that trains could be efficiently and suc-
cessfully controlled by brakes operated by compressed air.

THE VALUE OF UNIFORMITY 31

The next event of importance was to put brakes (in No-
vember 1869) on a train of ten cars on the Pennsylvania
Railroad, which was taken to Philadelphia to demonstrate
to the directors of that railroad the success of the apparatus,
and this was followed by similar demonstrations at Chicago
and Indianapolis. The outcome of these demonstrations
was immediate orders for equipment from the Michigan
Central and the Chicago & North Western Railways, and
shortly thereafter for the Union Pacific, in the West, and
for the Old Colony and Boston & Providence in the East.

With this auspicious start, the progress of the new de-
vice was so rapid that by April 1, 1874 (that is, five years
and a half after the first trial train was run), 2281 locomo-
tives and 7254 cars had been equipped with the straight-
air brake, including 148 locomotive and 724 car equipments
shipped to foreign countries. These equipments were manu-
factured and supplied by the Westinghouse Air Brake Com-
pany, a corporation of Pennsylvania, which was chartered
September 28, 1869, and began operations in leased prem-
ises at the corner of Liberty Avenue and 25th Street, Pitts-
burgh, early in 1870.

From the very commencement of the brake business,
Westinghouse insisted on the great importance of uniformity
of design and manufacture. Standards were adopted and
adhered to, in all parts of the brake apparatus requiring
uniformity to insure interchange of the rolling stock so
. fitted upon various roads. It would be difficult to over-
state the value of this policy to the railroads of the United
States in terms of safety, time, or money. If the brake
equipment installed upon 71,500 locomotives, 63,000 pas-
senger-service cars, and 2,800,000 freight cars in the United
States now so equipped, involved a bare half-dozen stand-
ards instead of a single one, the increased cost and delay

32 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

in handling the transportation of the country would be
beyond estimate. In fact, this instinct for standardizing
was a fundamental thing in the nature of Westinghouse.
It appears all through the years, in his practice and in his
teaching.

THE COMING OF THE AUTOMATIC BRAKE

The transition from the straight-air brake to the auto-
matic brake will be described presently. This involved a
change in the principle of operation, and demanded im-
portant additions to the devices. The change was radical
and it was vital. But all the later forms of Westinghouse
brake apparatus, ranging from the plain automatic brake
of 1874 through various types of quick-action automatic
brakes to the standard form of today, show the desirability,
if not the necessity, of having each succeeding type of brake
interchange and operate harmoniously with its predeces-
sors, and this point has never been lost sight of. This very
practical consideration as a limiting condition has been
one of the most difficult factors in the development of brake
apparatus of sufficient flexibility and power to meet the
ever-changing demand incident to the introduction of
heavier tonnage cars, more powerful locomotives, higher
speeds, and increased length of trains.

Before passing to the development of the automatic
brake, it is interesting to note the extent to which the
straight-air brake came to be used in the brief time which
covered the active life of that type of apparatus and to
record its creditable performance.

In 1876 there were in use in the United States 15,569
locomotives and 14,055 passenger cars, of which 2645 loco-
motives and 8508 passenger cars, or 37.7 per cent of the
whole, were equipped with Westinghouse straight-air brakes.

RESULTS OF A VISIT TO ENGLAND 33

At this time the Pennsylvania Railroad operated trains con-
sisting of a locomotive, one express car, one baggage car,
three coaches and six Pullmans. The average weight of a
passenger locomotive and tender with fuel and water was
fifty tons; baggage and express cars, ten tons; passenger
coaches, sixteen tons, and Pullman coaches, twenty-seven
tons. On that basis, the Pennsylvania trains above de-
scribed would weigh 580,000 pounds. With the straight-
air brake the average length of stop from thirty miles
an hour was 500 feet. In the good old days of the hand
brake, which trainmen afterward affectionately called the
"Armstrong brake," stops from thirty miles an hour were
seldom made under 1600 feet. The straight-air brake was
a great step forward, but to Westinghouse its defects and
limitations were soon manifest. At what early date after
its introduction he began the study of how to remedy its
defects, is not definitely known.

In July 1871, he made his first trip to Europe for the
purpose of introducing his invention, and remained abroad
until August of the next year. Despite his ability to show
how fast American railroads were equipping their trains
with his straight-air brake, he found it exceedingly difficult
to make any impression on the railway managers of Great
Britain. In his efforts to get favorable attention, he sought
the assistance of the editors of Engineering, then and now
a famous journal. After several interviews, Mr. Dredge,
one of the editors, handed Westinghouse a draft of an edi-
torial that he proposed to publish on the general subject
of air brakes. This editorial was an argument for better
brakes on British railways, and in it the editor named the
qualities that he considered essential to the satisfactory
operation of continuous brakes. Several of his specifications
were fully met by the Westinghouse straight-air brake, but

34 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

at least two of them were not: "If a part of the train
breaks loose from the rest, the brakes must come automati-
cally into play; the failure of the brake apparatus on one
or more carriages must not interfere with the action of the
brakes on the rest of the train." The precise statement of
these two requirements may have suggested new ideas to
Westinghouse or may have crystallized ideas already in
his mind. At any rate it was not very long thereafter that
evidence of his serious study along these lines appeared in
his patents. The first public disclosure of the result of
this study is found in United States patents 124,404 and
124,405, both filed December 6, 1871, and issued March 5,
1872. The specification of 124,404 reads in part as follows:

In the air-brake apparatus heretofore in use a single
line of pipe conveys the compressed air from the main reser-
voir on the locomotive to each brake cylinder. If this pipe
becomes accidentally broken at any point it is, of course,
useless for braking purposes from that point to the rear
end of the train. For this and other reasons I have devised
an apparatus consisting in part of a double line of brake
pipes, which may be cooperative or independently opera-
tive in braking, at the pleasure of engineer. . . .

The improvement herein described consists in the fea-
tures of construction and combination by which, first, an
air reservoir, auxiliary to or independent of the main reser-
voir, is combined on each car with the brake cylinder; sec-
ond, by means of a cock or cocks, such additional reservoir,
when used as an auxiliary reservoir, is charged with com-
pressed air from one brake pipe, and the brake cylinder
from the other, such pipes in such use being interchange-
able or not, at pleasure; third, and by means of a single
cock, either brake pipe may be used for charging the reser-
voir and the other for operating the brakes; fourth, when
a car becomes disconnected from the train by accident or
otherwise, a port or ports will thereby be opened in a com-

THE AUTOMATIC BRAKE IS BORN 35

municating pipe or pipes, by which the air from such aux-
iliary reservoir will be admitted freely to the brake cylinder,
so as automatically to apply the brakes; and, fifth, the con-
ductor and engineer may communicate signals or orders to
each other by the use of the brake pipes and the compressed
air.

Later the specification, referring to the " receiver or reser-
voir/7 as shown on the drawings, says:

It may be used as a reservoir auxiliary to the main reser-
voir, or as an independent reservoir, one on each car, for
storing up the air necessary to apply the brakes. In this
latter use I combine with it any known device for com-
pressing air, such as an air pump, fan blower, steam in-
jector, &c.; and if an air pump it may be worked by an
eccentric on one of the car axles or in other known way.

Four things mentioned for the first time in this patent
are significant: the double line of pipe, the installation of
separate or auxiliary reservoirs on each car, the employ-
ment of the brake system as a means of communication
by signals, and the installation of independent compressing
apparatus on each vehicle, including the suggestion of axle-
driven compressors. Priority of invention is claimed for
the first three.

The method of operation described in this patent covered
the usual and familiar straight-air system, using either one of
the brake pipes for that purpose. The brake pipe not so
employed provided a connection between the main reservoir
and the auxiliary reservoirs and, together with the auxilia-
ries remained at all times charged with a predetermined
pressure. By means of cross pipes at the end of each car,
communication was established between the "operating
pipe" and the storage or "reservoir pipe" through three-

36 A LIFE OF GEO&GE WESTINGHOUSE

way valves that were operated automatically to charge
the brake cylinder with auxiliary reservoir air in case of a
break in two or in the event of a car leaving the rails. The
various devices provided to accomplish this purpose are
crude and their availability in actual service somewhat
questionable, but as the first step in the development of an
automatic brake, the idea disclosed by this patent is in-
teresting.

The signals referred to were operated by admitting air
from the charged reservoir pipe into the operating pipe.
Air gages were installed in each car and in the engineer's
cab. The face of each gage showed eight points distinctly
marked at equal distances around the complete circle, and
each point, when indicated by the index finger of the gage,
conveyed a distinct order or message, as "flag station,"
"stop for orders," "stop," and so forth. The position of
the index finger was determined by the amount of pressure
admitted into the operating pipe through the controlling
valve on each car as manipulated by the operator. The
attention of the engineer was directed to the gage by an
alarm whistle likewise installed in the cab. This idea de-
veloped into the well-known and simple air signal, now and
for years past in universal use, which will be discussed later.

It will be noted that the automatic action of the brake
described in patent 124,404 was an independent emergency
feature, and not in any way under the control of the en-
gineer; in other words, it was not possible for the engineer
to use the air stored in the auxiliary reservoirs under the
cars for the application or release of the brakes. That this
feature could be made "cooperative," or "independently
operated," that is to say, both independent of and depen-
dent upon the will of the engineer, is indicated in the above
quotation from the specification of patent 124,404. The

THE AUTOMATIC BRAKE ADVANCES 37

devices necessary to render it "cooperative" are covered
by patent 124,405 issued concurrently. The specification
of this patent so well describes the functions of an auto-
matic brake controlled by the engineer through the fluc-
tuation of air pressure in the brake pipes that it is here
reproduced in part:

/ now propose further to improve this system of railway
brakes by bringing this continuous reservoir pipe into com-
munication with the brake cylinders at pleasure, through the
agency of compressed air admitted from the main reservoir into
the other brake pipe; by such construction and arrangement
of intermediate devices that, by simply discharging compressed
air from this continuous reservoir pipe, a communication will
be opened from the auxiliary reservoir to the brake cylinder,
whereby the brakes will be applied; by a system of valves and
ports which shall effectuate all these results by their automatic
action, except as their action is governed by the engineer at
the main reservoir.

By the italics, attention is directed to the elements that
differentiate this patent from the previous one and mark
it as the pioneer patent in automatic braking so far as the
fundamental idea is concerned. The "intermediate de-
vices" and the "system of valves and ports," used to ac-
complish the functions described, underwent many changes,
and by the exercise of great ingenuity were eventually re-
duced to the simple and beautiful plain triple valve in its
final form, as covered by patent 220,556, but so far as
providing means whereby the discharge of air from the
"reservoir pipe" by the engineer at will, or by the rupture
of brake pipe, would apply the brakes in emergency, the
triple valve of 1879 is the legitimate, although more richly
endowed, successor of the strange congeries of valves em-
bodied in the structure covered by patent 124,405. This

38 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

structure was made and successfully tested on the rack,
but was never put into practice because it was soon super-
seded by a succession of much simplified devices to be de-
scribed later. For this reason and because of its complicated
construction, no detailed description of its operation is at-
tempted, but if the student of the air-brake art will examine
the specification of this notable patent, he will get a new
conception of the mechanical ability of the man who worked
out this combination, and a still higher appreciation of the
later developments by which even more remarkable results
were obtained.

Much complexity was due to the fact that during the
transition period Westinghouse used two brake pipes, the
"operating pipe" and the "reservoir pipe." If these pipes
had been used invariably for the purpose designated by
their respective names, the valves, ports, and passages re-
quired would have been greatly reduced in number; but
in the earliest stages of this development, Westinghouse
evidently considered it essential that either pipe could be
used as an "operating pipe," and to accomplish this pur-
pose the number of independent valve devices was doubled,
if not trebled.

Before dismissing the apparatus covered by patent 124,-
405, it is interesting to note that the term "triple valve"
is not found in its specification or in that of the succeeding
patent, but in patent 138,827, filed February 1, 1873, in
which it does appear for the first time, a reference is made
to these earlier devices as such. The term "triple valve"
has become fundamental in air-brake language. It was
coined to express the threefold function of the device, viz.,
to apply the brakes, to release them, and to charge the
auxiliary reservoirs. Since the devices described in the
previous patents were not designed automatically to release

THE TRIPLE VALVE EMERGES 39

the brakes when automatically applied, the structures they
cover can scarcely be called "triple valves" in the strict
use of that term.

In patent 138,827, issued May 13, 1873, the triple valve
first assumed the general form maintained for many
years. It was a true triple valve in that it automatically
performed the three functions and was thus in reality the
first of the long series of triple valves. In this valve and
its immediate successors the pressures in brake pipe and
auxiliary reservoir were separated by a rubber diaphragm
or "flexible annulus," as it is termed in the patent specifi-
cation, whereby all or nearly all the friction encountered
in previous valve devices was avoided and an absolutely
air-tight joint secured.

Perhaps it should be explained here that there are two
kinds of stops — the service stop, as at stations, and the
emergency stop. In the service stop the brakes are slowly
applied and not with the full power. In the emergency
stop the full power is brought into effect as quickly as that
can be done without sliding the wheels. Installed as supple-
mental to the straight-air brake as before, but now on a
separate line of pipe with no connection between the two
lines, the automatic brake was still essentially an emergency
brake, since with the first diaphragm valve it was imprac-
ticable to apply the automatic brake except with maxi-
mum pressure. However, when thus applied on the com-
paratively short passenger trains of that day, it was de-
cidedly quicker than the straight-air brake and resulted
in shorter stops.

After the usual service tests of this valve and before it
was released for manufacture, the third and final form of
"diaphragm triple valve" was brought out, embodying
several improvements in construction described in patent

40 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

149,901, issued April 21, 1874. This valve was used quite
extensively in the earliest commercial installations of auto-
matic brakes. It formed part of the automatic equip-
ment installed on the train placed at the disposal of the
committee on Science and the Arts of the Franklin In-
stitute by the Pennsylvania Railroad for test purposes,
which tests resulted in the award to Westinghouse of the
Scott medal. The train consisted of an engine, tender, and
seven passenger cars. The weight is not given, but it
presumably approximated 325,000 pounds. The trial runs
for which this train was furnished were made on the Penn-
sylvania Railroad fifteen miles from Philadelphia on May
20, 1873. A number of tests were made and while scien-
tific accuracy was not possible, due to the lack of timing
and other special apparatus used in later tests, the follow-
ing figures for three of the runs are fairly indicative of the
actual results obtained. A critical student of the art will
discover shorter and more consistent stops in other records
of about the same time. In answer to signal, the train
stopped in 547 feet from 30 miles an hour on an up-grade
of 29.6 feet to the mile. On application of brakes from the
train, the stop was in 15 seconds in 553 feet, from a speed
of 32 or 33 miles an hour on a down-grade of 31.7 feet per
mile. With engine detached, the train stopped in 103^ sec-
onds in 323 feet, from 40 miles an hour on a down-grade
of 28.2 feet per mile. The report concluded as follows:

The committee say that these experiments have demon-
strated to them the extraordinary efficiency of this apparatus,
and they especially call attention to the value and impor-
tance of the arrangement which secures the instant auto-
matic application of the brakes on the engine and on each
car of the train independently of the train hand, in certain
contingencies which are of common occurrence and are the
cause of frequently disastrous accidents. f

AUTOMATIC FUNDAMENTALS 41

The committee believe that by contriving and intro-
ducing this apparatus, Mr. Westinghouse has become a
great public benefactor and deserves the gratitude of the
travelling public at least. They believe that his inventions
are worthy of and should receive the award of the Scott
Legacy Medal.

Accordingly, the committee proposed the adoption of
the following resolution:

Resolved, that this Committee (of Science and Arts)
recommend to the Board of Managers of the Institute that
they make the award of the John Scott's Legacy Premium
and Medal to George Westinghouse, Jr., of Pittsburgh, for
his improvements in air brakes for railway trains.

FUNDAMENTALS OF THE AUTOMATIC BKAKE

At the time of this trial the automatic brake had become
finally differentiated from the straight-air brake. It may
be well, therefore, to give here a short description of its
principal features before taking up the further develop-
ment of the triple valve and other automatic-brake devices.
The plain automatic brake and also the straight-air brake,
included an air compressor and main reservoir on the loco-
motive, a valve in the cab, known as the engineer's brake
valve, brake cylinders under the tender and each car, a
line of pipe and flexible hose connections, to form a con-
tinuous air conduit from the main reservoir to the rear of
the train. These features were common to the automatic
and the straight-air brakes.

In the straight-air brake, compressed air was carried from
the main reservoir on the engine through the engineer's
brake valve and through the brake pipe to the brake
cylinders, thus applying the brakes. The brakes were
released by so manipulating the engineer's valve as, through

42 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

it, to discharge to the atmosphere the compressed air from
the brake pipe and likewise from all the brake cylinders
with which it was directly connected. Normally, there-
fore, in the straight-air brake system, the air in the brake
pipe was at atmospheric pressure when the train was run-
ning and charged with air at any desired pressure less than
the main reservoir pressure when the brakes were being
applied.

In the automatic brake system, this normal operation
was completely reversed. When running, the brake pipe
was fully charged with air at a predetermined pressure
and the brakes were applied through a reduction of brake-
pipe pressure by the manipulation of the engineer's valve,
so opening a special valve on each car, or by the accidental
separation of the car, or by any rupture in the brake pipe
or the hose connections. This automatic action was se-
cured by two important features installed on each car,
in addition to those used in common with the straight-air
brake, viz., an auxiliary or supplemental reservoir and the
triple valve interposed between the main brake pipe, aux-
iliary reservoir, and brake cylinder. Through the triple
valve, when air under pressure was admitted to the brake
pipe, the auxiliary reservoir was charged to brake-pipe
pressure. At the same time, a port was opened from the
brake cylinder to the atmosphere. This was the normal
or running position with the brakes fully released. A re-
duction of brake-pipe pressure caused the piston of the
triple valve to shift its position, closing the port between
the brake cylinder and the atmosphere and also the port
between the brake pipe and the auxiliary reservoir. At the
same time, and by the same movement, communication
was established between the auxiliary reservoir and the
brake cylinder, and thus the brakes were automatically

THE TRIPLE VALVE DEVELOPS 43

applied. The restoration of brake-pipe pressure reversed
this operation, released the brakes, and recharged the
auxiliary reservoir. It will be observed that now only one
line of brake pipe was used. The simple, automatic and
effective performance of all these functions was through
that marvel of ingenuity, the triple valve.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRIPLE VALVE

In its perfected state, the flexible diaphragm triple valve
was a sensitive and highly efficient device, but the use of
poppet valves with their liability to leakage, the normally
closed exhaust port, and the perishable nature of the rub-
ber diaphragm, soon led to the invention of the "piston-
and-slide-valve" type of triple valve, the experimental form
of which was covered by patent 168,359, dated October
5, 1875. This form was quickly followed by the first com-
mercial valve of this type described in patent 172,064,
dated January 11, 1876, which embodied in its structure a
most important improvement, the feature of lost motion
in the slide valve. The utilization of this feature effected
the opening and closing of the feed port in response to
slight variations of pressure, thus greatly increasing the
sensitiveness of the triple by obviating the necessity of
raising the pressure sufficiently to overcome friction of the
slide valve. This triple was standard from 1876 to 1879.
The next and last step in the development of the plain
triple valve was the invention of the graduating valve, which
made possible a still finer graduation of the brakes, both
in application and release. The triple valve in which this
refinement was embodied is covered by patent 220,556,
dated October 14, 1879. With slight modifications, this is
the form of plain triple that remained standard for pas-
senger-car equipment until the invention of the quick-action

44 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

triple valve in 1887, and for locomotives and tenders until
the introduction of the ET equipment in 1908.

We have seen that Westinghouse filed in the patent of-
fice his first caveat for the air brake in July 1868, that is,
three months before he was twenty-two, and this patent
was issued the next April. We have traced for ten years
the course of the main stream of invention which led to
the perfection of what is known as the plain triple valve
and to the solid establishment of the automatic system.
Presently, we shall take up the greatest invention in the
air-brake art, the quick-action, automatic triple, and shall
relate something of the story of the brake as it is today;
but first we will glance at a few smaller but essential de-
tails which go to make up a system.

V

SUNDRY ACCESSOEIES

In 1870 Westinghouse patented a steam-driven air pump,
to compress air for braking, which has persisted in type to
this day — improved, of course, in detail. It is doubted
if any other steam-driven 'engine has been made which has
equalled in reliable service this air pump, under working
conditions so severe.

The engineer's operating valve of 1870 was improved in
1879, by what was called the "excess-pressure" valve which
was designed to hold in the main reservoir a pressure greater
than the standard brake-pipe pressure. This was impor-
tant in providing for emergencies and permitting prompt
release of the brakes and quick recharge of the auxiliary
reservoirs. This seems to have met the requirements of
passenger service, but when, in the course of years, the air
brake came to be applied to very long freight trains the
need of further improvement was disclosed by an interest-
ing experience. An experimental train of fifty stock cars

THE ENGINEER'S VALVE 45

fitted with automatic brakes was being run over the Pitts-
burgh Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In those
days, very few engineers had handled so long a train with
the air brake. The Pennsylvania Railroad engineer on this
train was a good air-brake man in passenger service, but he
had no experimental knowledge, or theoretical either, of
the difference between braking a ten-car and a fifty-car
train. When he came to let his train down the eastern slope
of the Alleghanies, he got into trouble. The grade is long
and often well over 100 feet to the mile, and there are sharp
curves, the famous "Horseshoe Curve" amongst them.

As he started down the grade, the engineer did what he
would have done with the trains he was used to; he put
on brakes and quickly "lapped" his brake valve — that is,
he put it in the proper position for running with brakes
set. The result was to set the brakes on the leading cars
and to cause a surge of air from the rear cars that at once
released them. This operation was repeated three or four
times; air pressure was getting low, and it looked as if there
must be a call for hand brakes or a runaway down a bad
grade and through the curves. Westinghouse was in the
cab, and it was suggested that he should take the brakes,
a suggestion promptly and gratefully accepted by the en-
gineer. By delicate handling, Westinghouse let the train
smoothly down the grade, and at the same time built up
the air pressure. From this experience quickly came the
invention of the engineer's equalizing valve — SL most impor-
tant improvement in air-brake equipment.

The equalizing valve was designed so to control the dis-
charge of air as to equalize the pressure through the whole
length of the brake pipe, and secure uniform application of
the brakes. This prevents the things that happened on the
Altoona grade — setting brakes on the head cars, failure to

46 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

set them on the rear cars, and the release of the forward
brakes by a surge of air from the rear. Probably no man
could have reasoned out such conduct by compressed air;
it had to be developed and discovered by experiment. The
history of the art is full of such situations. This valve was
the joint invention of George Westinghouse and his nephew,
Frank Moore.* In its first form it was used in the classical
Burlington brake trials of 1886 and 1887. It was improved
in 1889, and then no important change was made in it for
twenty years.

Everybody knows that in 1833 Robert Stephenson in-
vented a steam driver brake for locomotives. Forty years
later George Westinghouse followed him. Westinghouse
knew the desirability of power brakes on the locomotive
as the most important single factor in braking trains, be-
cause of the greater comparative weight of the locomotive.
At the outset the use of driver brakes met with strong op-
position, which persisted for many years, due to the notion
that the increased brake power would not compensate for
the increased wear of driver tires. Now the supreme im-
portance of braking locomotives to the limit is universally
recognized. If man is a reasoning animal, he is sometimes
perverse. The writer remembers in the early seventies,
hearing officers of the old army, men of Civil War experi-
ence, argue stubbornly against breech-loading rifles. "The
men would fire away their ammunition too fast. It would
be impossible to keep the firing-line supplied."

The first driver brake invented by Westinghouse was
patented in 1873. Vertical brake cylinders are installed
on the engine frame and brake shoes are applied to the driv-
ing wheels by means of a steam- or air-actuated piston

*Mr. Moore contributed substantially to the brake and friction draft-gear
arts, both as an independent inventor and as co-inventor with Westinghouse.

BRAKE BEAMS AND HOSE COUPLINGS 47

operating through a system of hangers and levers. In a
later form, usually called a "cam brake/7 patented in 1876,
the segmental levers or cams are so hung that "during the
beginning of their stroke the touching point of their opera-
tive faces shall be below the line joining the centers of
curvature." By this arrangement, the segmental levers
give to the brake shoes a quick motion, or throw, to the
surfaces of the wheels, thus rapidly taking up the shoe
clearance before the application of full brake pressure. Pis-
ton travel was thus substantially reduced, speed of applica-
tion increased, and valuable space utilized to the best ad-
vantage. That cam brakes are now seldom seen is largely
due to change in number and arrangement of driving wheels
in modern locomotives.

Westinghouse was an early inventor in the brake-beam
field, and his contributions to this element of the art of
power braking were very valuable. The lack of strength
and rigidity in the brake rigging in general use in America
and the much more substantial and mechanical methods
employed in England for transmitting brake pressure to
the wheels led Westinghouse to design the pioneer metallic
brake beam patented in 1873. This was soon followed by
a wooden beam supported by metallic tension rods, giving
greater strength and rigidity than the ordinary wooden
beam, with less weight. Both of these came into general
use and contributed much to the efficiency of the brakes
in reducing the length of train stops.

The earliest form of hose coupling invented by Westing-
house was one of the elements of novelty that contributed
largely to the successful issue of the patent suit against
the Gardner & Ransom Brake Company mentioned earlier.
The special feature that distinguished this from any ordi-
nary coupling was the valve mechanism that closed auto-

48 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

matically when the connection was separated and the fact
that separation under any unusual strain was accomplished
without rupture. These fundamental features were re-
tained in the later and improved forms of hose couplings
covered by half a dozen patents and the type is in use to-
day. It is hard to exaggerate the importance of this seem-
ingly unimportant device among the various units that
constitute a complete car-brake equipment. The fact that
it has persisted for more than forty-six years shows how
well it has performed its function and played its part in
advancing the art of power braking.

Adjustment of slack caused by the wear and replacement
of brake-shoes, has always been and will always be one of
the difficulties in power braking. The desirability of tak-
ing up slack automatically, not only to save labor but to
insure greater uniformity in brake applications was seen
early by Westinghouse, and in 1872 he secured a pioneer
patent on a device designed to accomplish this purpose.
The mechanism described in this and later patents included
all the essential elements requisite to fulfil the function
for which they were designed. They had, however, the
drawback of taking up false piston travel when used in
connection with the wooden brake beams and weak levers
and brake rods common to the equipment when the in-
vention was made. For this reason, the use of automatic
slack adjusters was discontinued until the general adop-
tion of strong and rigid brake gear and brake beams.

Another interesting invention originally included in com-
plete sets of automatic brake equipment for passenger cars,
and subsequently abandoned, was a trip device for auto-
matically setting the brakes in case of derailment. To ac-
complish this object, a valve controlling the discharge of
air from the brake pipe was actuated by a stem extending

TRAIN SIGNALS 49

downward near the track, carrying a cross bar in such
proximity to the rail that if the truck were derailed the
cross bar would strike the track, lift the valve from its seat,
and, by discharging air from the brake pipe, apply the
brakes. Experience showed that brakes were sometimes set
by loose objects on the right-of-way and an emergency stop
was made under inconvenient or even dangerous conditions.
There is a tradition that on the Long Island Railroad a
hen, scuttling across, tripped the brakes and stopped a
train. A variant makes it a prairie-chicken on the Wabash.
Whatever the facts may have been, the story belongs to
the important class of truths that might be true. At any
rate the use of the trip was discontinued. Numerous varia-
tions have been patented but the objection has never been
overcome.

The fact has been told that as early as March 1872,
Westinghouse conceived the idea of employing brake-pipe
air pressure as a means for communicating between the
vehicles in the train and the engineer by visible and audible
signals. In working out this idea, audible signals alone
were found to meet every practical requirement, and the
index gages described in the original patent were aban-
doned. A patent issued in 1876 covers the various devices
later designed by Westinghouse to constitute a complete
train air-signal equipment, and described their application
and use. In this patent the statement is made that the
same mode of operation may be employed in connection
with a separate line of pipe leading to the escape valves,
but it is preferable to employ the volume of air in the brake
pipe for the purpose. Later on, in actual service it was
found that under certain conditions brake operations inter-
fered with the simultaneous transmission of signals. For
a time, therefore, it was thought improbable that railway

50 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

companies would consider the train air signal of sufficient
value to justify the installation of an entirely separate line
of pipe for that purpose, including special hose and coup-
lings, but the prompt adoption of the separate train air-
signal system by the Pennsylvania Railroad due in large
part to the initiative of Mr. T. N. Ely, settled this ques-
tion for all time, and it soon became standard on all pas-
senger trains equipped with automatic brakes. Various
minor changes and improvements were made subsequently
in train air-signal apparatus, but it is today essentially
the same as when first designed and put into service by
Westinghouse in 1876.

This interlude of half a dozen minor things has seemed
proper for two reasons: They are part of the system and
they help to bring to our minds something of the versatility
and industry of the man of whom we are reading. Now
we shall resume the history of the air brake.

THE BURLINGTON BRAKE TRIALS

When we take up the story again, in its chronological
order, we find ourselves facing the most stirring and critical
series of events in the history of the air brake — the Bur-
lington Brake Trials, and their consequences. That inci-
dent, comparatively brief, was a fine example of victory
snatched from defeat by the fortitude and the resource of
the commander. And the commander was at the moment
almost alone in the world in thinking that victory was pos-
sible.

In 1885 there was no kind of continuous brake in much
use in freight service, but an important beginning had been
made on the Denver & Rio Grande, the Central Pacific,
the Northern Pacific, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe,
and the Union Pacific. There were special reasons why

THE BURLINGTON TRIALS BEGIN 51

these roads should have led the movement. They had
mountain grades; their trains were comparatively short
and light, and their interchange of freight cars with other
roads was comparatively small. But for two or three years
there had been a great and fast-growing agitation amongst
the people for means to reduce the dreadful list of casualties
to freight-train hands. The popular leader in this agitation
was Mr. L. S. Coffin, State Railroad Commissioner of Iowa.
He had the fiery energy of a Hebrew prophet and the en-
gaging gifts of a Yankee politician. He was saved from
being a fanatic by a moderate but sufficient sense of humor,
and he really loved the "railroad boys." A good cause,
with such a leader, was bound to prevail. There were two
perfectly obvious means of keeping the "boys" off the roofs
of freight cars while running and from between them while
coupling, namely, continuous brakes and automatic coup-
lers. Both of these would have come into universal use
in time for technical reasons, but Coffin's movement forced
the situation, and concerted and definite action by the rail-
road companies began.

There are in the United States several organizations of
operating officers of railroads which have been working for
years to improve practice and especially to develop stand-
ards. The free interchange of freight cars is a necessary
feature of our operating methods. A car of the Boston
and Maine Railroad is on the Southern Pacific and needs
repairs; or a car of the Canadian Pacific is on the Texas
Pacific. It is obvious that, for good service and cheap ser-
vice, the parts of all these cars must be reduced to a few
standards. It is equally obvious that for progress, con-
trivance must not be put into a strait- jacket. It is the
ancient principle of compromise. With this, ancient prin-
ciple, these groups of railroads officers have been laboring

52 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

for more than a generation. The Master Car Builders'
Association and the Master Mechanics' Association have
to do especially with rolling stock, and when the use of
continuous brakes on freight cars began to seem possible,
it was taken up for systematic study.

The first report of the Committee on Automatic Freight-
Car Brakes was made to the Master Car Builders' Associa-
tion in 1885. In it, the statement was made that a com-
plete report on Automatic Freight-Car Brakes should be
accompanied by an elaborate and thorough series of com-
parative trials and tests which were quite beyond the field
of the committee. Four types of brakes were suggested
for investigation — buffer brakes, friction brakes, air brakes,
and electric brakes — with a brief description of each brake
of these various types that was at the time in actual ser-
vice and had been observed by members of the committee.
These included the American, the Rote, and the Prescott
brakes of the buffer type, the Widdifield and Button fric-
tion brake, and the Westinghouse automatic air brake.

At the convention of 1886, the committee made no formal
report but announced that arrangements had been con-
cluded for two series of tests on the Chicago, Burlington,
and Quincy Railroad at Burlington, Iowa, in 1886 and 1887.
The competitors in the first series of tests, which were run
from May 29, 1886, were the American Brake Company's
direct buffer brake, Eames automatic vacuum brake, Rote
direct buffer brake, Westinghouse automatic air brake, and
the Widdifield and Button friction buffer brake. The suc-
cession of violent shocks experienced with all forms of buffer
brakes, which increased inversely as the length of the stop,
soon eliminated this type from competition and left the
field to Westinghouse and Eames, the automatic air brake
and vacuum brake.

A SERIOUS SITUATION 53

Nor did the more successful competitors escape criticism
and temporary rejection for the same reason. The expected
delays in charging and releasing continuous brakes were
shown to be of no moment, and the performance of the
Westinghouse brake was satisfactory in service work, but
emergency applications of the brake produced such violent
shocks, due to slow serial action, that the committee re-
ported adversely as to the adoption of any existing brake
as standard for freight-train operation. At the same time
an invitation was extended to all brake manufacturers to
take part in a second series of trials in the spring of 1887.
This was done in the hope that meanwhile such improve-
ments might be made in the speed of emergency applica-
tions as to overcome the admitted deficiency in the air
brake, or that some other form of brake might be submitted
that would satisfactorily meet all the conditions imposed.

The situation was serious, not to say alarming, for the
great unoccupied field was in freight braking, and that field
was immensely greater than the passenger field already
pretty well cultivated. The cars in freight service, includ-
ing "company" cars, are from forty-five to fifty times as
many as those in passenger service. Many of the air-brake
men in the Brake Company and on the railroads were
gloomy. But it was the kind of situation which Westing-
house enjoyed. He at once started lines of inquiry and
experiment that culminated in the production of the so-
called quick-action triple valve. Let the reader carefully
note this, for it was an epoch, not only in the history of the
brake, but in the history of land transportation.

THE QUICK-ACTION TRIPLE VALVE

The first form of this valve was covered by U. S. Patent
360,070, issued March 29, 1887. The improved form which

54 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

later became the standard quick-action triple was covered
by U. S. Patent 376,837, issued January 24, 1888. Both
forms were involved in the litigation that followed efforts
made to share in the commercial success attained as a
result of the great invention they embodied.

In all probability, the only thing that prevented the
elimination of all competition in this field during the life
of these patents was the fact that one of the methods of
obtaining quick serial action, while clearly Westinghouse's
invention and, in fact, the most obvious and the first
method considered by him, was not patented because of
the more effective method which at once claimed and ab-
sorbed his attention. Fundamentally, serial quick action
of the brakes was obtained by locally venting brake-pipe
pressure at each triple valve. The obvious method was to
vent to the atmosphere, and at first this was done; but
Westinghouse immediately saw the saving of air and other
benefits to be gained by venting this pressure directly into
the brake cylinder, and this feature was effectually covered
by patent 360,070. A dozen words would have covered
venting to the atmosphere also. These words were not
written into the claim, and a competing company has built
up a handsome business on a quick-action valve venting
to the atmosphere. Ben Franklin has called our attention
to the fact that for want of a horseshoe nail the rider was
lost. Perhaps society has profited by the competition,
and perhaps it was as well for the world that Ben's rider
should have been lost.

The great significance of the invention of the quick-action
brake may be illustrated by the fact that comparing it with
the plain automatic brake used in the 1886 trials, the rate
of serial action was so increased as to cause a reduction in
the time of full or emergency application of the fiftieth brake

TROUBLES CONTINUE 55

in a fifty-car train of approximately fourteen seconds, that
is to say, from twenty seconds to six seconds. There was
also marked increase in resultant cylinder pressure, as well
as in the rapidity with which air was admitted to the brake
cylinder in such applications, due to the larger opening from
the brake pipe to the brake cylinder.

These improvements in the speed and effectiveness of
the Westinghouse brake led to the belief that the problem
had been solved, and as there was no opportunity to test
the new brake on a fifty-car train before the opening of
the second series of trials, the Westinghouse people appeared
at Burlington in May 1887, confident of complete success.
They were again disappointed. The individual efficiency
of each brake had been so greatly increased as to completely
overbalance the increased rapidity of serial action, with
the result that while the stops made were much shorter,
the shocks sustained in the rear cars were even greater than
in the trials of 1886. Observers and recorders in the rear
car were shot promiscuously the length of the car, and there
was at least one leg broken. Some of the members of the
committee were quite cross at being so hustled, and the
chances of a favorable report faded away. Fortunately,
an alternative had been provided in electrically operated
vent valves in the hose-couplings at four points in the train.
These valves were connected by wires running through the
pipes and energized by batteries on the locomotive. The
engineer's valve was provided with contact points, so that
in emergency applications only, the electrically operated
vent valves could be opened instantaneously throughout
the train and the brake applied with almost absolute uni-
formity. At that time Westinghouse had no faith in the
practicability of electrically operating brakes on freight
trains. It was not a question only of immediate reliability,

56 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

but of maintenance. He used to say: "A freight car has
no father or mother." It must wander over a continent
and stand for weeks at a time on remote sidings. The elec-
trical apparatus had not then been made that would re-
main operative in such conditions. But the electric vent
valve showed that his brake could be worked that way,
and so he kept his position on equal terms with his com-
petitors who exhibited electrically operated brakes.

In the 1887 trials, besides the Westinghouse automatic
air brake and the Eames vacuum brake, there appeared
the Carpenter electro air brake and the Card electric brake.
The Carpenter brake used compressed air as the braking
force, and the Card brake was purely an electric device.
Both depended entirely upon electricity for the operation
of the braking mechanism. In the cases of Westinghouse
and Eames, electricity was employed as as auxiliary to a
braking device complete in itself. The performance of the
Carpenter brake was ideal when it worked, but in the last
stop of the test, a broken wire caused a complete failure.
This incident confirmed Westinghouse in his opinion that
electricity, as then applied, was not a sufficiently reliable
agency upon which to depend for stopping trains. Its use
as an adjunct, however, seemed established, and while the
committee declined to make any definite recommendation
as to what freight-train brake should be generally adopted,
and suggested that the subject of automatic freight-train
braking should be continued for further investigation, with
special reference to the reliability of the electrical element,
it reported as follows:

First, that the best type of brake for long freight trains
is one operated by air, and in which the valves are actuated
by electricity.

THE SITUATION STILL WORSE 57

Second, that this type of brake possesses four distinct
advantages:

a. It stops the train in the shortest possible distance.

6. It abolishes shocks and their attending damages to
equipment.

c. It releases instantaneously.

d. It can be graduated perfectly.

This report, while eminently fair, was a verdict against
brakes operated by air alone, and again Westinghouse was
faced by a situation critical to his fortunes and dangerous
to the best interests of the railroads. Most of his associates
in the brake company and his best friends on the railroads
thought that he was beaten at last. An editorial writer of
the time, very friendly to Westinghouse, but professionally
bound to form and express correct opinions, so far as light
was given to him, said: "The most remarkable feature of
the trials has been the general adoption of electricity, which
has been proved capable of operating the valves of air
brakes so as tov secure greater quickness of action, less shock,
and better graduation. . . . When we consider the great
variety of purposes for which it is now used, the constant
increase of its application, and the very rapid growth in
the electrical art it does not seem very sanguine to prophesy
that it may be successfully used in train braking." Writ-
ing four months later, after the astonishing thing that
Westinghouse had done in the meantime, the same writer
said: "At the conclusion of those trials it is probable that
there was only one engineer living who believed that the
triple valve could be so altered as to stop a fifty-car train,
at forty miles an hour on a fifty-three-foot grade in less
than half the length of the train without a shock. . . .
When he announced that he would certainly eliminate the

58 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

shock in the emergency stops by the use of the air alone,
he was listened to with incredulity by the best informed
students of this great mechanical problem. . . . We have
long regarded the eminent services of Mr. Westinghouse
to the railroads as sufficient to place him on a level with
the foremost of those who have benefited the world by me-
chanical inventions, and we now tender to him our hearty
congratulations on this new and most important achieve-
ment whereby the necessity, or even the desirability, of an
electric complication of the air brake is completely avoided."
What had happened was that Westinghouse went back to
Pittsburgh, in three months changed the air brake to the
form which endured for twenty years without important
modification, and in four months proved to the world that
the longest freight trains could be handled with air and
without electrical complications. And it was so simple !

The form of quick-action triple valve was produced which
afterward became standard as the "376,837," and in which
friction, due to the use of the emergency slide valve, was
eliminated. One-and-a-quarter-inch brake pipe and hose
were substituted for the one-inch pipe and hose previously
employed, with enlarged angle cocks, hose couplings, and
other fittings. These changes reduced the time of serial
action on the last car to about two and one-half seconds
as compared with six seconds, and an empty train of fifty
cars was stopped from twenty miles an hour without shock
in 200 feet or less. The enlarged brake pipe and fittings
also materially improved the service functions of the brake,
especially in grade work.

After experiments that demonstrated these facts to the
satisfaction of Westinghouse and his associates, the same
train which was used in the 1887 trials, refitted with modi-
fied and improved apparatus, was sent on a tour during

WESTINGHOUSE TRIUMPHANT 59

October, November, and December 1887 (the Burlington
trials had been late in May), and a series of unofficial trials
was made at a dozen cities. Mr. Godfrey W. Rhodes, who
was Superintendent of Motive Power of the Burlington at
the time of the trials, and who was chairman of the Master
Car Builders' Committee, writes: "Mr. Westinghouse's won-
derful optimism and confidence in the principle of air power,
after the early failures were very marked. After the first
collapse, in rapid succession, three different triples were
invented. Finally came the gem, and then, greatest of all
acts, it was exhibited all over the country in operation on
a fifty-car train, making stops with no shock in the fiftieth
car, not enough jar to upset a glass of water, a marvellous
condition when one considers the wreck and disaster that
used to take place in the fiftieth car." These trials were
attended by many hundreds of railroad managers, motive-
power officials, press representatives, prominent citizens,
and technical students. The results were so successful
that the committee of the Master Car Builders' Associa-
tion on freight-train brakes reported to the meeting of the
Association in June 1888, as follows:

In our report to the convention last year the main con-
clusion we arrived at was that the best type of brake for
freight service was one operated by air, and in which the
valves were actuated by electricity. Since that time your
committee has not made any further trial of brakes, but
the aspect of the question has been much changed by the
remarkable results achieved in non-official trials which
have taken place in various parts of the country, and have
been witnessed by many of the members of this Association.
These trials show that there is now a brake in the market
which can be relied on as efficient in any condition of freight
service.

60 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

The present position of the freight-train brake is briefly
as follows:

First. — Brakes can be, practically speaking, simultane-
ously applied, without electricity, throughout a train of
fifty freight cars.

Second. — Other inventors are working at the problem
of making an air brake which will be rapid in action and
suitable for service on freight trains. We also understand
that inventors are working at buffer and electric friction
brakes, but we have no reason to hope that brakes on these
principles can successfully compete with air brakes.

In view of these conditions, your committee does not
recommend the adoption of any particular brake, but con-
siders that a freight-train brake should fulfil the following
conditions:

First. — It shall work with air of seventy pounds' pressure.
A reduction of eight pounds shall set the brakes lightly,
and a restoration of pressure shall release the brakes.

Second. — It shall work without shock on a train of fifty
cars.

Third. — It shall stop a train of fifty empty freight cars
when running at twenty miles per hour within 200 feet on
the level.

Fourth. — When tried on a train of fifty cars it shall
maintain an even speed of fifteen miles an hour down a
grade of fifty-three feet per mile without variation of more
than five miles per hour above or below that speed at any
time during the descent.

Fifth. — The brake shall be capable of being applied,
released, and graduated on the whole train by the engineer,
or without any assistance from brakemen or conductor.

Sixth. — The hose coupling shall couple with the present
Westinghouse coupling.

All of the conditions of this report fell well within the
demonstrated performance of the Westinghouse automatic
freight brake, and the battle was won. It was one of West-
inghouse's swiftest and most brilliant victories, and it is

HIS GREATEST CONTRIBUTION 61

a classic in railroad history. Thus the standard freight
brake for the ensuing twenty years established its title to
supremacy. When the next broad advance in the art of
freight braking came, through the invention of the quick
service or "K" triple valve, Westinghouse, while still
President of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company and
the director of its general policies, was not personally active
in the development of this improved device.

Any fairly complete investigation of the subject leads
to the conclusion that the greatest original contribution
to the art of power braking was made by Westinghouse in
the invention, development, and perfection of the triple
valve. From its beginning, that device was, and it still
remains, the heart of the air-brake system. It seems a far
cry from the plain triple of 1872 to the universal valve of
today, but the trail is clearly marked and the development
of the one into the other is no more or less remarkable than
the development of Stevenson's Rocket into the Mallet com-
pound locomotive of today, or of Fulton's Clermont into
the modern Atlantic liner. Beyond mechanical modifica-
tions of more or less importance, the invention of an im-
proved engineer's brake valve in 1896 and of a quick-service
triple in 1907, Westinghouse's direct personal contributions
to the air-brake art ended with the perfection of the quick-
action triple valve in 1887. When, in order to cope with
the changing conditions of transportation, the next step
forward became necessary, he was so deeply engaged in
other work, largely, but by no means exclusively, of an ad-
ministrative character, that the Air Brake Company was
forced to rely upon the engineering talent that in the mean-
time had been developed in its own ranks or acquired by
additions thereto. While it is not within the province of this
biography to describe these later developments, it is proper

62 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

here to record that the inventor chiefly responsible for the
later devices by which the art was still further advanced,
referring particularly to the K type of freight triple valve,
and LN passenger brake equipment, and finally the uni-
versal valve, was W. V. Turner, in many respects a worthy
successor of the pioneer whose genius was his constant in-
spiration. Touching his own inventions in relation to the
prior art, Mr. Turner has well said: "It is truly remark-
able that through all subsequent improvements not one of
the original functions of the triple valve has been discarded,
but that they have been extended and expanded, and many
new functions added."

ENGLISH EXPERIENCES

The beginning of the air brake and its development were
in the United States, and we have followed the story so
far with but little mention of what was done abroad. But
Westinghouse's doings in England and on the Continent
were an interesting part of the history, and some of the
things done were not only interesting but of distinct im-
portance in the engineering development of the brake.
They destroyed a law of mechanics which had almost the
standing of a law of nature, and they exploded an ancient
mechanical fallacy which to many minds was a law. They
established principles which are useful not only in braking
but in other fields of applied mechanics.

We have seen that the first air-braked train was run out
of Pittsburgh in September 1868, and that less than three
years later Westinghouse was in England with his brake.
We have also seen that in that first visit an impetus was
given to the idea of making the brake automatic. The
next year, 1872, the Westinghouse Continuous Brake Com-
pany was organized for handling export business. This

IN ENGLAND AGAIN 63

company, a Pennsylvania corporation, maintained a tech-
nical and sales force in England, with some shop facilities,
but until the latter part of 1881, when its corporate suc-
cessor, the Westinghouse Brake Company, Limited, was
chartered under the English Companies' Act, practically
all brake equipments supplied for the European trade were
made in America. At the time of his second visit, March
1874, 148 locomotives and 724 car equipments of the
straight-air system had been so furnished, and the Westing-
house name and product had become well known in rail-
way circles. The introduction of the Westinghouse auto-
matic brake, the principal object of the 1874 trip was,
therefore, a much less difficult task than that of 1871. Con-
sequently, when he returned to England for the third time
in May 1875, the automatic brake was in service on several
important railways. In the meantime, other ambitious
inventors had been busy and continuous brakes of various
types were in service or were claimants for recognition.

In England, the most dangerous competitor of the com-
pressed-air brake was the vacuum brake, originally brought
out in the United States under a patent issued to John Y.
Smith of Pittsburgh in 1872. The principle of vacuum-
brake operation was used by Nehemiah Hodge of North
Adams, Massachusetts (patented 1860, extended 1874, re-
issued to George Westinghouse, Jr., assignee, 1879), but
Smith, by substituting an ejector, or what he calls an in-
jector-exhaust, for the vacuum pump specified by Hodge,
greatly improved the chances of the vacuum brake in com-
petition with the straight-air brake. Westinghouse had
promptly entered the vacuum-brake field, and besides secur-
ing the assignment of the original Hodge patent, he took
out patents on improvements and refinements both in the
United States and abroad, so that in England, in 1875, he

64 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

was prepared to furnish either vacuum or compressed-air
brakes as might be required.

The conflicting claims of the various inventors and manu-
facturers were vocal in England at that time, and led up
to the first and most important series of competitive brake
tests of early days. These tests, known as the Newark
trials/ took place on the Nottingham and Newark Division
of the Midland Railway in England, June 9, 1875. On com-
plete trains of thirteen carriages and two vans continuous
brake equipments were installed, representing mechanical,
hydraulic, vacuum, and compressed-air brake systems, as
follows: Fay's hand brake and Clark & Webb's chain brake,
Barker's and Clark's hydraulic brakes, Smith's and West-
inghouse's vacuum brakes and Steel & | Mclnnes's and
Westinghouse's automatic compressed-air brakes. These
tests were conducted by the Railway Companies' Asso-
ciation under the direction of the Royal Commission on
Railway Accidents.

Comparing the best stops made, the results demonstrated
the superiority of the Westinghouse automatic brake, with
a stop of 777 feet from fifty miles an hour, as compared
with 901 feet by Clark's hydraulic brake, 1158 feet by Steel
& Mclnnes's compressed-air brake and 1477 feet by the
Smith vacuum brake. In commenting on these results,
Engineering of June 25, 1875, says:

Lastly, we come to the Westinghouse automatic arrange-
ment, and this, we think we may safely say, is shown
by the recent trials to possess all the requisites of a thor-
oughly efficient continuous brake. This brake proved more
prompt and powerful in its action than any of its competi-
tors. ... Its performances as they stand were far beyond
those of any other brake. As regards durability and gen-
eral reliability in every-day practice also it should be re-

GALTON-WESTINGHOUSE STUDIES 65

membered that no brake sent to the trials has been so thor-
oughly tested as the Westinghouse, and this is a fact which
it is well to bear in mind.

Surely this is a remarkable tribute for that day to an
American invention in the face of strong English competi-
tion. It should be noted, however, that notwithstanding
this early demonstration of the superiority of compressed-
air brakes over vacuum brakes, which was repeated in later
tests, the vacuum brake is still used on a much larger
mileage of English railways than the compressed-air type.
On the other hand, in America, vacuum brakes long ago
completely disappeared from service.

The three or four years following the Newark trials
passed without any outstanding incident in the develop-
ment of the art of power braking beyond the gradual evolu-
tion of the plain triple valve into its final form, the modi-
fication of various subsidiary devices, and the relatively
slow introduction of the automatic brake, including the
change over from straight air. The latter, so far as new
business was concerned, practically concluded its Amer-
ican career in 1878. Meanwhile, in England, the proponents
of straight-air, automatic-air, and vacuum brakes, con-
tinued to wage vigorous warfare on behalf of their favorite
systems. Westinghouse, who, after returning to America
in 1875, was again in Europe for his longest stay, extending
from July 1876, to August 1879, naturally took aar active
interest in the^controversy.

THE GALTON-WESTINGHOUSE EXPERIMENTS

During the discussion of a paper relating to brakes which
was presented at a meeting of the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers late in 1877 or early in 1878, Westinghouse

66 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

called attention to the fact that in testing the action of
several kinds of brake shoes, he had observed a very marked
difference in the friction of the shoes upon the wheels at
high speeds and low speeds. Let the reader note this and
keep it in mind. Westinghouse believed that a determina-
tion of the facts was of great importance and volunteered
to design and make the necessary automatic recording ap-
paratus, and to carry out a system of experiments under
the direction of any person who should be appointed by
the President of the Institution to supervise the tests and
report them. The Institution immediately delegated Cap-
tain Douglas Galton, who directed the experiments, which
took place on the London, Brighton, and South Coast Rail-
way during the year 1878. Thus originated the famous
Galton-Westinghouse tests or experiments, which were the
first investigation of this character to be carried out on a
practical scale and the results of which may still be con-
sidered the most reliable experimental data in existence
on the relations of friction, speed, and weight. Galton
achieved distinction and became Sir Douglas Galton,
C.B., D.C.L., F.R.S.

Three papers entitled "The Effect of Brakes upon Rail-
way Trains," submitted by Captain Galton at meetings
of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers held in Paris
June 13, 1878, in Manchester October 24 of the same
year, and in London April 24, 1879, fully describe these
remarkable experiments, and the discussions that followed
in each case are scarcely less interesting. These papers
and discussions were reprinted by the Westinghouse Air
Brake Company in a publication issued in 1894, bearing
the same title, copies of which may be found in most tech-
nical libraries.

The part taken by Westinghouse in these investigations

GALTON-WESTINGHOUSE STUDIES 67

is suggested by the following sentences from Captain Gal-
ton's papers, and from the minutes of the meetings at which
they were presented :

Experiments connected with the action of brakes on
railway trains require very delicate apparatus, and the au-
thor wishes to explain that the credit of the design of the
apparatus used in these experiments, and of the successful
manner in which the apparatus was applied, belongs en-
tirely to Mr. Westinghouse. — (Galton's first paper.)

He has to repeat his thanks to Mr. Westinghouse for the
beautiful apparatus contrived by him, and for the very
valuable assistance he has rendered in carrying out these
experiments. — (Galton's second paper.)

The President said that in moving a vote of thanks to
Captain Galton for the very great labor he had undergone
in bringing before the Institution the results contained in
his paper, he thought he ought not to omit the name of
Mr. Westinghouse. They had just heard from Captain
Galton that in devising the means of arriving at the con-
clusions, Mr. Westinghouse had done the greatest possible
service.

The way in which Mr. Westinghouse had gone to work,
directly he found that something was wanted, to design
precisely the thing that was wanted, was as good an illus-
tration of the spirit in which engineers ought to work as
could be found anywhere. — (Discussion of Galton's third
paper.)

The most surprising fact established by these trials was
that the friction between two bodies, one or both being in
motion, varies inversely as their relative speed. Westing-
house had already observed this phenomenon, and that
observation brought about the trials, as we have seen. The
following report of his remarks in discussing Galton's third

68 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

paper shows that his thought had been turned in the same
direction by things seen in quite another field:

Mr. Geo. Westinghouse, Jr., had long ago observed a
plain-edged disk cutting through large iron beams in a roll-
ing-mill, and had seen that without getting heated itself,
it would cut through twelve or fourteen inches of iron with-
out difficulty. That had led him to the opinion that there
was a difference between friction at high and at low speeds:
for such a disk, running at a circumferential speed of 5000
feet per minute, would scarcely cut anything, but at 12,000
feet per minute it would cut hard steel. He had seen
hard steel thus cut with a piece of soft wrought iron. His
own idea in regard to the decrease in friction owing to time
was that instead of acting as a lubricant, the metal that was
cut off might act as little rollers, in that way reducing the
friction. It was very difficult, however, to ascertain the
true cause, because it was impossible actually to see what
took place.

The primary object of these trials was to determine and
define the basic principles that underlie the use of brakes
on railway trains. Since some of the trial trains were
equipped with the Westinghouse automatic, compressed-
air brake and others with vacuum brakes, considerable
rivalry was developed, and the relative merits of these sys-
tems were deduced and argued from the length of the stops
made at various times and under various conditions. Gen-
erally speaking, the results indicated the superiority of the
Westinghouse brake, but this was not commented upon by
Captain Galton in his reports, and since the weight of the
trains and other conditions varied greatly, no good pur-
pose could be served now by republishing the figures. The
important conclusions reached were stated by Captain
Galton in his second paper as follows:

1st. The skidding of the wheel, so that it slides on the

GALTON-WESTINGHOUSE STUDIES 69

rail, is altogether a mistake, so far as rapid stopping is con-
cerned.

2d. The pressure with which the brake blocks are ap-
plied to the wheels should be as high as possible, short of
the point which would cause the wheels to be skidded and
to slide on the rails.

3d. The rotation of the wheel is arrested as soon as the
friction between the brake block and the wheel exceeds
the adhesion between the wheel and the rail; and there-
fore the amount of pressure which should be applied to the
wheel is a function of the weight which the wheel brings
upon the rail. The value of this function varies with the
adhesion; hence, with a high adhesion a greater pressure
can be applied and a greater measure of retardation ob-
tained than with a low one.

4th. In practice and as a question of safety it is of the
greatest importance, in the case of a train travelling at a
high speed, that speed should be reduced as rapidly as pos-
sible on the first application of the brakes.

5th. The friction produced by the pressure of the brake
block on the wheel is less as the speed of the train is greater;
to produce the maximum retardation so far as speed is con-
cerned, the pressure should thus be greatest on first applica-
tion, and should be diminished as the speed decreases, in
order to prevent the wheels from being skidded in making
a stop. It should be added that the coefficient of friction
decreases as the time increases during which the brakes are
kept on; but this decrease is slower than the increase of
the same coefficient due to the decrease of speed; it has
therefore little influence in the case of quick stops.

6th. The maximum pressure should be applied to the
wheels as rapidly as possible, and uniformly in all parts of
the train.

70 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

The first conclusion is that exploding of an ancient fallacy
of which we spoke above. It will astonish some to know
that such a fallacy persisted as late as 1878. But that it
did then persist is certain. In the discussion of one of Gal-
ton's papers a speaker said that the result mentioned in
the paper as to skidding was certainly somewhat surpris-
ing after the deductions drawn by the Royal Commission
on Railway Accidents to the effect that when wheels were
skidded they retarded the force of the train more than when
revolving. During the further discussion the Royal Com-
mission found supporters, but one speaker said that it had
been well known by every practical engine driver for the
last twenty-five years that the skidding of wheels was a
great mistake. That depends somewhat perhaps on the
definition of the word "practical." Many old-time rail-
way-operating men will testify that the Royal Commission
theory was not only ancient but was existent years after
the Galton-Westinghouse trials, and we find a United States
Patent granted to T. E. Sickles as long ago as 1857, which
in part reads as follows: "If he (the engineer) wishes to
stop as suddenly as possible, he opens to its full width the
communication to the atmosphere, whereby the weights
acting with their full force, cause the brakes to be applied
and the wheels of the car to slide."

It was useful, even if hardly necessary, to prove and em-
phasize the facts about skidding. It was well worth while
to show to men deeply interested that the stopping effect
of sliding wheels is less than one-third of the stopping effect
of the brakes while the wheels revolve. That was a good
thing to know, but the fifth conclusion, that the coefficient
of friction increases as the speed falls, is very important.
It radically limits and modifies one of Morin's laws of fric-
tion, which had been accepted since 1834 by writers,

FRICTION AND SPEED 71

teachers, and practitioners. It shows that to get ideal
brake performance the greatest permissible pressure must
be used at high speeds, to be gradually reduced as the speed
fell. This sets a mark toward which to advance in build-
ing up the ideal brake system. It sounds simple, but the
physical conditions of braking are extremely complicated.
We shall consider now for a moment the practical deduc-
tions from the vital fifth conclusion from the Galton-West-
inghouse trials; the friction between brake shoe and wheel
is less as the speed of the train is greater; to produce the
maximum retardation so far as speed is concerned, the pres-
sure should be greatest on first application and should be
diminished as the speed decreases; this to keep the shoes
from seizing the wheels and sliding them on the rails. The
reader has noted, no doubt, that the stopping effect of a
skidded wheel is about one-third of the stopping effect of
a wheel braked but still turning. He may have seen this
in running his automobile. The obvious thing was to use
a relief valve, the action of which should depend on time
or the speed of the train. But wheels slide easier on a wet
rail than on a dry one. The best rail is clean and dry. The
worst rail is one wet with drizzling rain or fog, and still hav-
ing on it dirt and oil from passing traffic. Between is the
rail washed clean but still wet. The conditions may be
modified by sanding the rail with clean sand, well screened.
Nobody has yet been able to make a relief valve intelligent
enough to discriminate between all these varying condi-
tions, although the triple valve can almost talk. Westing-
house took out two patents in 1879 for a pressure-reducing
valve, designed to reduce the brake-shoe pressure as the
speed falls, and in 1893 Messrs. Parke, Clark, and Hogan
of the Brake Company took a patent for an apparatus "in
which a higher degree of braking power than heretofore

72 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

may be made available for emergency application of the
brakes in the operation of trains at exceptionally high
speeds." At the time the movement for veiy fast pas-
senger trains was under strong headway. This was es-
pecially true in the United States, but some trains famous
for speed were running in England and France. The
writer, being a somewhat "reactionary" person, and hav-
ing been considerably influenced by the conservative teach-
ings of Westinghouse, ventures to express here the hope
and the belief that it will be a long time before the railroads
return to the wasteful and dangerous passenger-train speeds
of the last decade of the last century and the first decade
of this.

The inventors of the Parke apparatus say: "Our inven-
tion is particularly designed for trains which are run at ex-
tremely high speeds. We provide means whereby the ordi-
nary graduated application may be made when running
at ordinary speeds . . . and a very powerful application
may be made when the train is moving at high speed and
the wheels are revolving at their greatest velocity. We
also provide for the gradual reduction of the force of such
powerful applications as the speed of the train slackens hi
order to prevent the sliding of the wheels."

The expectations built upon the various reducing con-
trivances were only partly realized. This was due not only
to the impossibility of endowing a mechanism with intel-
ligence, but also to actual physical and financial reasons.
The brake rigging in universal use would not stand greatly
increased strains, and the railroads could not reasonably
and properly rebuild all their passenger brake gear to fit
the requirements of a few very fast trains. So an ingenious
and fair compromise was reached which served excellently
for many years until the standards of practice were slowly

HIGH-SPEED BRAKING 73

built up to the high-efficiency brake now in general use in
this country.

We say "in this country," and it has been said elsewhere,
that the vacuum brake is still considerably more used in
the British Isles than the compressed-air brake. That is
by no means due to the invincible prejudice of the Britisher.
He naturally prefers the slower and more comfortable stop
that goes with a relatively light braking force, and his con-
ditions permit him to enjoy it in safety. He has no level
crossings; his right of way is protected from trespassers —
man or beast; his lines are all well signalled, and there is
higher discipline amongst the men, and more general re-
spect for orders. The need for quick stops is not nearly
so frequent, or so great, as with us, although the passenger-
train speeds are quite as great and the freight-train speeds
are greater. On the other hand, the conditions that make
the need of emergency stops greater in this country are
not due to American recklessness, any more than the use
of a less powerful brake in Great Britain is due to British
prejudice. The railroads here were built to create cities
in a wilderness; there they were built to serve cities already
existing, in a settled and populous land. Here labor and
money were scarce, and wages and interest were high; there
they were relatively cheap. All the essential differences in
the railroads of the two countries may be explained by these
fundamental economic facts.

By the compromise spoken of above, provision was made
for high-speed braking without disturbing the brake ap-
paratus as it existed. For high-speed braking air was sup-
plied to the train line at 110 pounds per square inch; for
ordinary service braking at 70 pounds. Two pump gover-
nors were put on the locomotive, one or the other being
cut in as high or low pressure was required. A relief device

74 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

was attached to each brake cylinder, and this was very in-
genious. It kept the cylinder pressure from rising to the
point of skidding wheels in service stops; and permitted
the high pressure to be used in emergency stops; then the
emergency pressure was gradually and automatically re-
duced to service pressure. This seems to be a good deal
for an unintelligent machine to do. An expert, after de-
scribing the device, says "this seems a very crude adapta-
tion of the refined methods and results indicated in the
Galton-Westinghouse tests, but in practice it worked ad-
mirably and served a useful purpose for many years, and
ultimately became standard on passenger equipment."
One's notions of crudeness and refinement depend upon
the stage of civilization that he has reached. Most of us
who have looked at half a dozen drawings of this relief de-
vice, and read several pages of Patent Office specifications
describing it think of it as sufficiently refined.

But the reader who has had the patience to read what is
here written of the air brake has discovered that the art of
train braking is an elaborate structure, the building of which
has taken fifty years of high effort. The inventions of West-
inghouse and of other men in the organization were the
foundations of the art, but only that. On these foundations
a structure of applied science was built through fifty years
of effort. Research, design, experiment, and test went on,
and brilliant things were done in the gradual development
of a delicate and complicated apparatus. Not the least
important matter was the education of the users. In 1888
the Brake Company put in service an instruction car which
wandered over the continent for thirty years, giving free
education to the men who handled the brakes in service.
It is believed that no university in the country has a larger
body of graduates than this travelling school. Closely

THE INSTRUCTION CAR 75

allied to it was the systematic investigation of accidents.
If a collision occurred, Westinghouse men were sent to the
spot to help the railroad men to find the causes. The quick
explanation of a collision used to be "the air brakes failed
to work." In nine cases out of ten, perhaps in ninety-nine
cases out of one hundred, this was not true; but it was the
easy refuge of a negligent engineer or flagman, and being
so simple, was accepted in the newspaper offices. The
process of education was tedious. The instruction car was
one of Westinghouse's personal helps to the process. After
thirty years it was dismantled, for the Air Brake Associa-
tion, born in this car in 1893, had grown to be a serious and
influential body, including makers and users of air-brake
equipment, and the railroads had established their own
brake schools.

This car carried the brake apparatus for a thirty-car
train, complete from the engineer's brake-valve to the con-
nections with the brake gear under the cars. The pupils
could be taught to handle the brakes and could see many
of the results better than on a train. The car carried
a steam boiler and air compressor, a water pump and a
dynamo to generate its own lighting current. It had an
office and bedroom for the instructors, so it was quite at
home on a prairie siding. On the walls were valves, cylin-
ders, air pump, and other apparatus, the actual parts cut
through in section. Four classes a day of engineers and
firemen, and two classes of conductors and trainmen, were
run through the car. They were taught, then quizzed and
rated, and finally got such certificates as they deserved.
Keen students sometimes followed the car 400 or 500 miles
to get more information and higher rating. Several presi-
dents of big railways and men eminent in other places
started in the engine cab, and it is impossible even to guess

76 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

how many general managers, division superintendents, and
so on, were graduates of the instruction car. The sum of
it all is that we have now in America far and away the
best braking apparatus and systems in the world; but the
ideal brake has not even yet been realized.

In closing the air-brake chapter, attention is asked to a
fundamental thing which will be suggested in various ways
before we have done with this book. Westinghouse was
an idealist. Probably he would have resented such a charge.
He would have said he was a practical man. Emerson said
that he "found that genius left to novices the gay and fan-
tastic and ostentatious and itself pierced directly to the
simple and true; that it was simple and sincere. ... All
great actions have been simple." So of Westinghouse's
idealism. It was not vague or fantastic or expressed in
sounding phrases. It was never expressed in words at all;
it was expressed in facts. The instruction car and the elab-
orate system of investigating accidents of which we have
just written were expressions of his idea of what folks nowa-
days call " service." We see many such expressions as we go
through his life, for the idea was in his nature. He never
ceased to think how the product of his mind and the prod-
uct of his shops could be of more service to his customers,
to his employees, and to the world. To that end he lavished
money and effort. It was enlightened selfishness, if you
please, but that seems to be a good basis for working ethics.
At any rate it was enlightened and we call it applied ideal-
ism.

CHAPTER III
FRICTION DRAFT GEAR

A GKEAT railroad president, an engineer by profession
and a man of imagination, Mr. Cassatt, said that the fric-
tion draft gear was a more important invention than the
air brake, and Westinghouse himself sometimes said the
same thing. How many readers of this book ever heard of
the friction draft gear, or have a definite notion of its con-
struction and its functions? Even railroad men were slow
to appreciate it. Other inventors and manufacturers, usu-
ally quick to see, and diligent to seize opportunities, long
failed to understand that a new field for profitable enter-
prise was opened by this invention, although Westinghouse
advertised it widely in print and by public demonstrations.

This situation came about partly because the immediate
need of the friction gear at the time of its invention was
not urgent, and only a man with the foresight of Westing-
house could expect the future need. That involved fore-
seeing something of the mechanical effects of the air brake
in handling long and heavy trains. Such foresight required
engineering knowledge and insight, and it required also
considerable applied imagination, a combination not very
common. The need of the air brake at the time of its in-
vention was tolerably obvious to all men, and inventors
were busy with schemes for brakes, continuous through
the train, and controlled by the engineer. The time was
ripe for a revolution in brakes; only a few gifted men sus-
pected that a revolution in draft gear was impending when
Westinghouse brought out the friction gear. Perhaps an-

77

78 A LIFE OP GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

other reason for the reluctance to use the new device was
failure to grasp the consequences to flow from dissipating
energy by friction instead of storing it in springs.

It is much too soon to attempt any estimate of the rela-
tive effect on human progress of those two inventions. Few
men would now venture to say that the friction draft gear
is nearly as important as the air brake, but it was a more
novel conception. It introduced into railroad practice a
new principle; the air brake applied new means to an old
principle. The spring gear mitigates by spring action alone
the shocks and stresses due to coupling, starting, running,
and stopping trains. The energy developed is stored ready
to react when the springs are released. In the friction gear
the energy is dissipated as heat and there can be no reac-
tion. This was the great conception of the invention. The
consequences of spring reaction depend upon the quantity
of energy stored and the period of release. If that quantity
is large and release sudden the consequences are serious.
If the recoil of a great gun on shipboard were taken up by
springs the reaction would throw the gun out of the ship
if it were not stopped by the turret walls. At best it would
wreck things. In the stirring old frigate actions which we
read about wlien we were boys, the recoil of the guns was
managed by block and tackle. The gun crews manning
the leads checked the recoil and ran the gun forward to
firing position again. In the course of time hydraulic recoil
gear came in; and Westinghouse designed and patented
hydraulic gear for railroad use, but it was costly, and the
mechanical difficulties of fitting it to cars were great, if not
insuperable.

As cars increased in weight and as the length of trains
grew, heavier springs were used, and the effects of their re-
action became more and more severe, particularly on air-

_: ; TESTS OF DRAFT GEARS 79

braked trains. They increased not only in number and in
degree but in kind. Things happened that had never hap-
pened before. The freight engineer discovered that with
the best intentions he was liable to break his train in two
or in three parts without actually stopping and starting
but by variations of speed while running, and the old hand
knows that a broken freight train is not merely inconve-
nient, it is extremely dangerous. Attempts to make matters
better by still further increasing the capacity of the springs
made them worse. An excellent demonstration of this par-
ticular way of breaking a train in two was made in a series
of skilfully conducted tests made on the Southern Pacific
Railway in 1908. Incidentally the reader may note that
this was twenty years after the issue of the friction-gear
patent and twenty-one years after the most important single
improvement in the air brake. The report of these tests
says: "Probably more damage to equipment and lading
has been caused by engineers . . . attempting to release
brakes on freight trains . . . after slowing down than from
any other one cause over which operating officials have
control." To ascertain the effects of different gears in such
cases trains were run at twenty miles an hour and slowed
down to about eight miles; then brakes were released and
the engine throttle opened wide. The result was that with
the friction gear "the train remained intact and was again
accelerated as intended, but in the attempts to accomplish
this much-desired result with the spring gear the train was
parted sometimes in several places and in no case was the
train again put under way." The conclusion was that "it
is absolutely impossible to permit engineers to make a prac-
tice of attempting to release brakes and apply steam with
long freight trains under way which are equipped with
spring gear and quick-action brakes."

80 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

Now we will look for the genesis of the friction gear. In
1878 certain air-brake trials were made under the personal
supervision of Westinghouse in England. In foreign prac-
tice there is much greater movement between the cars in
a train than in the United States because of a quite different
arrangement of couplers and buffers. The train used in
these trials consisted of a locomotive and twenty vehicles,
the buffer springs having a total motion of from eight inches
to ten inches, to each car. When completely compressed,
they, therefore, reduced the length of the train by about
sixteen feet. The trials had proceeded successfully, and a
final stop was made at a station in London in which the
brakes were applied with full force with the train moving
at comparatively low speed, and the buffer springs on each
vehicle were fully compressed when the train came to a
standstill. As the passengers were alighting, the engineer
released the air from the brake cylinders. The exhaust
ports were unusually large, so that the air escaped quickly,
permitting the springs to react suddenly, causing the sepa-
ration of the cars to the extent of the spring motion, and
the movement was so violent that many of the occupants
of the train were thrown down and some slight injuries
resulted. Westinghouse said that the buffers required a
brake, and the need in this instance was supplied by ex-
hausting the air from the brake cylinder slowly enough
to permit the springs to react gradually. In this incident,
Westinghouse said, was the germ of the conception of the
friction draft-gear mechanism, for it clearly demonstrated
to him the destructive tendencies of unrestrained reactive
effect of springs used in connection with draft and buffing
devices. The idea lay dormant until the necessity for some-
thing of the kind in the United States was brought forcibly
to the attention of Westinghouse in connection with the

BRAKES AND DRAFT GEARS 81

brake experiments at Burlington in 1887. The experimental
train used at Burlington had ordinary draft and buffing
springs with a capacity of about 20,000 pounds, and in ad-
dition these cars were also fitted with auxiliary buffer
springs of about the same strength, placed directly above
the draft mechanism, and contacting with a horn on the
coupler head, this spring acting only in compression.

As long as the serial brake operation was so slow that the
front part of the train was stopped before the brakes in the
rear became effective, the cars were pushed together by the
crowding in of the unbraked rear portion of the train, and
there was no dangerous reactive effect of the draft springs.
When, however, the rapidity of serial brake action had been
increased so that the last brake was fully applied while the
train was still in motion, the reaction of the springs became
effective, and at speeds above thirty miles an hour it was
impossible to make an emergency stop without parting the
train by the braking of the coupler mechanisms. The part-
ing usually occurred about one-third of the length of the
train from the locomotive. An excellent opportunity for
observation repeated many times showed quite clearly this
effect of spring reaction. As stated before, the reactive
effect in the particular train in question was about double
that ordinarily present, due to the use of the auxiliary buf-
fer spring, which it was expected would in some measure
reduce buffing shocks caused by serial brake operation. It
was without value for its intended purpose and proved a
positive disadvantage because of its reactive effect, and
when it was removed coupler breakages ceased. The ex-
periment, however, served an excellent purpose in demon-
strating the objectionable effect of the reactive effort of
high spring resistance.

The subject becomes somewhat complex, as it deals with

82 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

long and heavy trains and not witji short ones or individual
cars, and because it is also connected with the serial opera-
tion of brakes. If all cars were of the same weight, equally
loaded and fitted with brakes that applied simultaneously
with uniform force, there would be no coupler strains tend-
ing to cause train partings, as there would be uniform speed
deceleration of every portion of the train. The objection-
able reactive effect only occurs when it becomes sufficiently
cumulative, as in a long train, and then mainly in connec-
tion with brake applications; for it is the serial application
of brakes that causes the springs to be compressed one by
one, thereby putting them in a state to react together and
with destructive effect.

The term "long trains" is necessarily inexact, for the
variation in weight of individual cars and of their loading
enters into the problem; but the invention of the friction
draft gear was based upon the observed performance of a
fifty-car train in 1887, and at the same time it was demon-
strated that with a train of half the length the reactive
spring effect was practically negligible. The draft devices
then in use were strong enough to absorb without breaking
the strains and stresses produced by the movement and
stopping of twenty-five-car trains.

Some of the serious elements in the cost of railroad opera-
tion are repairs to draw gear and underframes, and damage
to lading due to energy which ought to be dissipated harm-
lessly instead of being stored to do mischief. ^Understand-
ing all this involves a pretty complicated group of ideas
not so familiar then as they are now. It must be borne in
mind that in 1887 trains of fifty cars were comparatively
rare, and the average number of cars per train did not then
exceed thirty. Furthermore, they were of relatively low
capacity and of wooden construction, as the steel car had

FIRST FRICTION DRAFT GEAR 83

not yet appeared. The tendency toward longer trains was,
however, manifested at the date of the Burlington trials,
and its effect began to appear in heavy draft-gear repairs
and frequent train partings. Perhaps in no other instance
was the capacity of Westinghouse for a long-range vision
better exemplified than in the one in which he foresaw the
great increase in train lengths and weights, and their load-
ing, and what was demanded in improved draft appliances
to make this controlling factor of car construction adequate
for the purpose it serves. He clearly foresaw increased
stresses in the draft appliances, and as clearly identified
the fact that stronger springs intended to meet the require-
ments would augment reactive effect which had already
been demonstrated to be so great as to cause frequent train
partings under normal conditions of operation. He, there-
fore, invented and devised a mechanism which included a
high frictional resistance to movement, combined with a
moderate spring resistance. The frictional resistance was
effective in both forward and backward motion, and en-
tirely counteracted the reactive effect of the spring. The
chief function of the spring was to create frictional contact
of the moving parts of the device and restore them to nor-
mal position when the stresses of operation were removed.
So certain was Westinghouse of his inferences and assump-
tions that he began without delay to develop various forms
of the basic idea and submit them to practical tests.

His first friction draft-gear patent was issued in 1888,
and it disclosed the broad principles upon which all sub-
sequent friction gears have been designed. The structure
shown and described in the patent was built, and it was
tested on a train of thirty cars in February 1890. This
train was in charge of the late R. H. Soule, a distinguished
railroad officer who had entered the service of Westing-

84 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

house to develop the first friction gear, and who was an
excellent mechanical engineer. The apparatus was shown
in several important railway centers and a few of the de-
vices were put in general service, but the construction was
such that it was unfavorably affected by an accumulation
of rust, so that it did not prove entirely successful. A
further study of the problem resulted in a change of form
that remedied the defects in the first type, and after three
years of development and experimental work a train of
forty-five cars in the coke traffic was placed at the disposal
of Westinghouse by the H. C. Frick Coke Company, and
these cars were fitted with the new device and kept together
in one train. The train was put in service between the Con-
nellsville coke region and the Carnegie Works at Home-
stead and was under daily observation, and some slight
changes were developed by use and made. It was operated
many months under extreme conditions as to load and
speed, and therefore furnished the best possible opportunity
to demonstrate the value of the invention in its application
to freight equipment, proving, as it did, that the principles
involved in its construction were sound, and that the pur-
pose for which it was designed had been attained. Before
its use it needed great skill and care on the part of the en-
gineer to avoid train partings and rear-end shocks that
were of destructive intensity. When the friction gear was
attached it was impossible to so operate the locomotive as
to cause serious shocks or strains.

So far we have considered the functions of the draft gear
in taking care of the stresses set up in stopping, as observed,
for example, at the Burlington brake trials, and in taking
care of the stresses set up in a running train by changes in
speed, as in the Southern Pacific tests. But it performs
an important duty in starting trains also. To start a long

STARTING A TRAIN 85

and heavy train free slack is necessary. If such a train
were tight-coupled, with no play between the cars, the loco-
motive would simply spin its drivers and the train would
stand still. Actually it is started serially, one car at a tune,
and the momentum of each moving car helps to start the
car next behind. This necessary slack is provided in the
draft gear. In the spring gear it is spring slack, and the
effects of spring reaction are developed in starting trains
as well as in stopping them. The friction gear provides
the necessary starting slack without reaction. It has been
found in practice that a train fitted with the friction gear
can get up to twenty miles an hour by the time that a similar
train fitted with the ordinary spring draft gear can be en-
tirely put in motion. This is due to the greater care re-
quired to start a train fitted with the ordinary gear, to avoid
the destructive reactions from stresses in excess of the cush-
ioning capacity of the spring gear. It is probable that the
greatest commercial value of the friction gear is found in
the reduction of strains of extension to a point within the
strength of the car couplings, strange as that may seem to
one accustomed to think of it only as a buffer.

The first commercial application of the draft gear was to
1000 steel cars on the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad,
exactly nine years from the date of the original invention.
This was almost immediately followed by its adoption as
standard by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. A dozen years
after the invention of the air brake Westinghouse was rich
and famous. It took nine years or more to put this other
brilliant invention in such a place commercially that the
manufacturers began to get a reasonable return on the costs
of development and promotion. The struggle for the recog-
nition of the principle is now over. In the four years end-
ing in the spring of 1920 some 90 per cent of all freight

86 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

cars built were fitted with the friction gear, and the West-
inghouse Air Brake Company had shipped over a million
friction gears.

Regarded as an example of mechanical design the fric-
tion draft gear in the form in which Westinghouse left it
is one of the most ingenious of his structures, and those
who have looked over his many hundreds of patents will
agree that this is saying a great deal. When we consider
this; when we consider that the parting of trains has long
been a fruitful cause of bad accidents; when we consider
the great and constant cost, directly and indirectly, of main-
taining draw gear and underframes, and finally when we
consider the new and fundamental conception, we cannot
wonder that Westinghouse sometimes said and that Mr.
Cassatt said that the friction draft gear was a more im-
portant invention than the air brake. A forgotten" phi-
losopher said that the main obstacles to human progress
are friction, gravity, and natural depravity. Obviously
he was not an engineer; perhaps that is why he is forgotten.

CHAPTER IV
A GENERAL SKETCH OF ELECTRIC ACTIVITIES

THE air brake and its allies and dependencies have been
considered. We shall now take up Westinghouse's elec-
trical activities in a general way. Later chapters will show
in more detail how they developed in the gradual building
up of a new art.

The general development of the electric art came on in
great waves; first arc lighting, next incandescent lighting,
then the trolley and the single-phase alternating current
at about the same period, and finally polyph&e alternating
current and transmission of power. Of all these stages
Westinghouse was conscious; in all of them he had a part;
in one of them, the most important, he took a commanding
place. The most important stage was the use of alternating
current. This story will be told in detail later. Let us con-
sider here in a general way the relations of Westinghouse
to the new art of harnessing electricity for the use and con-
venience of man.

But first it may not be out of the way to glance at a few
very elementary things. Much will be said about direct
current and alternating current, and it will be found that
Westinghouse's greatest electrical achievement was to hast-
en the use of the alternating current, a long step in human
progress.

"Current" is a conventional and arbitrary term, accepted
years ago, to express the passing of electric energy from
one place to another. It is said to "flow" through, or on,

87

88 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

a conductor. Just how fast it flows nobody seems to know,
but the speed varies with the kind of conductor. So far
as anybody knows now, light is the fastest thing in our part
of the universe, at say 186,000 miles a second, and elec-
tricity comes next. For working purposes we may take
the speed of the electric transmission on a good copper con-
ductor at 100,000 miles a second, although very much
greater velocities have been observed in experiments. In
longitude work the time of transmission of electric signals
must be considered, but in transmission of power by elec-
tricity time does not enter. This matter of the speed of
the electric impulse will be interesting when we take up the
balancing of current in certain heavy railroad work in a
later chapter.

Direct current flows always in one direction. The flow
of alternating current is periodically reversed in direction.
In much of the early practice these reversals, " alternations,"
took place 16,000 times a minute. Lower frequencies are
now standard.

There is no essential difference in the effects produced
by these two different kinds of current in work done. There
are some uses to which one or the other is specially appli-
cable; but generally speaking, when the current reaches
the place where the work is to be done, by a motor or by
a lamp, one kind of current when suitably applied is about
as effective as the other. The essential differences are in
generation and transmission, in manufacturing the current
and taking it to the work, and in the means of utilization.
These differences have brought about the fact that ninety-
five per cent of the electric energy generated and trans-
mitted is by alternating current. It is to the everlasting
glory of George Westinghouse that he saw the meaning of
these differences before it was seen in a big way by any

DIRECT AND ALTERNATING CURRENT 89

other man who combined in himself the qualities and the
capacities to make use of them. This was so true that in
the middle eighties alternating current was spoken "of in the
United States amongst students and experimenters as the
"Westinghouse current." Few others than students and
experimenters spoke of it at all.

We shall now try to state very simply what those essen-
tial differences are. An elementary fact about transmission
is that the quantity of current passed economically over a
conductor at a fixed pressure, or voltage, depends on the
size of the conductor, and conversely if the size of the con-
ductor is fixed the power passed economically can be in-
creased by raising the voltage. If the power conveyed is
great and the voltage is low, the conductor must be large.
If the distance to be covered is considerable the cost of the
conductors becomes prohibitive. This is exactly the situa-
tion that had come about when Westinghouse took up al-
ternating current. Direct current had to be conveyed at
low voltage, because it had to be used at comparatively
low voltage, and it does not lend itself to ready reduction
from high transmission voltage to low working voltage.
Therefore, the cost of copper conductors set a narrow limit
to the quantity of power conveyed and the distances. Al-
ternating current can be readily transformed from high
transmission voltage to low working voltage with but little
loss of energy in the process. Therefore, a larger amount
of power can be carried at high voltage on a small conduc-
tor and stepped down to low voltage at the place of use.
Furthermore, alternating current can be converted into
direct current at the place of use with little loss.

The other important difference mentioned above is in
generation. The direct-current generator does not lend
itself to very large capacities, relatively, nor is it well

90 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

adapted to the high speed of the steam turbine. Alternat-
ing-current turbo-generators, driven by steam or water,
are now built up to 60,000 horsepower or more. This leads
to economy in the manufacture of power.

An old Westinghouse engineer writes: "The greatest
possibilities of alternating current seemed to lie in its flexibil-
ity of voltage transformation. This one feature alone al-
ways impressed Mr. Westinghouse as important enough
eventually to make the alternating system the dominating
one. However, it is doubtful whether even his great imag-
ination foresaw the complete extent to which the alternat-
ing-current system actually would supersede all others."

So much for the elementary things; now we may pro-
ceed with the story of George Westinghouse.

In the field of electricity he was not an inventor of funda-
mentals. He invented many useful details, but his great
work was in stimulating, combining, and directing the work
of other men. When he entered the field he was already
a world figure; a loadstone attracting from all directions.
No other man combined the resourcefulness, the contact
with scientists, the ardor for engineering development, the
manufacturing plants, the organization of men in many
groups, the vision, the optimism, the courage, and the will
to bring things to pass. Known the world over, he was
the receptacle of the thoughts and ideas of scientists and
inventors everywhere. He was the captain of them all,
the man who received and coordinated and executed.

A mind so active and inquiring as that of George West-
inghouse could not fail to be interested in electricity. As
a boy in his father's shop he amused himself taking sparks
from a belt and charging a Ley den jar; but for many years
the incentives and the opportunities before him were much
more mechanical than electrical. There were useful things

BEGINS HIS ELECTRIC WORK 91

to be done with mechanisms in endless variety, while the
only important use of electricity was in telegraphy. As
the years went on, Westinghouse gave some thought to the
possible use of electricity in railroad braking. Later he
took out patents for an automatic telephone exchange, dis-
closing principles suggestive of some features of modern
practice. When he took up railroad signalling and inter-
locking he soon began to use electric circuits for control.
Meanwhile electric lighting was developing slowly; the
distribution of power by electricity was but a dream of a
few speculative philosophers. All effectual uses of elec-
tricity in the arts were by direct current; the alternating
current as a useful form of electricity was not known. In
the early eighties the few important uses of electricity other
than in telegraphy were for street-lighting by arc-lamps
and for indoor lighting by incandescent lamps. There were
a few private lighting plants in hotels and other large build-
ings, and in 1882 central stations for commercial lighting
current began operation, but it was soon seen that the cost
of copper wire for transmission would be prohibitive for
distances more than a few hundred yards.

Late in 1883 Westinghouse began to think somewhat
seriously about direct-current lighting. He began to gather
about him a staff, and soon had several men busy in study
of methods and in development of details; but not until
he had his vision of the possibilities of the alternating cur-
rent was his interest thoroughly aroused. He had but just
started on his way to Damascus. The road was somewhat
long and the vision did not come so abruptly as it came to
Saul.

Although the arc lamp came into commercial use earlier
than the incandescent lamp, Westinghouse took up incan-
descent lighting first. A difficulty found early in that art

92 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

was automatic regulation of dynamo voltage to conform
to varying loads on the lighting circuit. In 1881 Westing-
house had taken out a patent for automatically regulating
either the engine or the dynamo in response to changes in
load. The pursuit of this object soon brought about rela-
tions with William Stanley, who later became a famous fig-
ure in electric development. Mr. H. H. Westinghouse, a
younger brother, had invented a high-speed engine and
formed the Westinghouse Machine Company to make it.
This engine had inherent self-regulating capabilities, and
negotiations were begun with the Brush Electric Company
looking to its use with the Brush dynamos. Brush was an
able and enterprising pioneer in electric lighting. While
negotiations were going on, H. H. Westinghouse happened
to meet Stanley, then a young and unknown electrical
engineer, and learned that he had invented a self-regulat-
ing dynamo. Stanley with E. P. Thomson had also in-
vented an incandescent lamp with a filament of carbonized
silk. The immediate result of this accidental meeting was
that Stanley went to Pittsburgh, in the employ of Westing-
house, to manufacture his dynamo and lamp and to de-
velop a complete electric-lighting system, and Westinghouse
entered upon a careful study of the art. This happened in
the first months of 1884, just when he was starting his
natural-gas company and thus creating another new art, in
which he brought out thirty-six patents in two years. At
the same time he was active also in the affairs of his new
company which was introducing railway signalling and in-
terlocking.

To appreciate the task before Westinghouse when he
considered taking up the electrical-manufacturing busi-
ness, it will be helpful to outline briefly the condition of
the business as it then existed.

THE LIGHTING SITUATION 93

The exploitation of direct-current arc and incandescent
lighting had gained considerable headway in the early
eighties. The more prominent producers of such apparatus
were the Brush Electric Light Company, the Swan Incan-
descent Light Company, the Consolidated Electric Com-
pany, the Edison Electric Lighting Company, the United
States Electric Lighting Company, and the Thomson-
Houston Electric Company. Each of these companies
owned numerous patents relating to the electrical art. It
thus became necessary for Westinghouse to learn whether
the Stanley silk-filament lamp and the Stanley self-regulat-
ing direct-current dynamo would involve the use of ad-
versely held patents.

Until the metal-filament lamp was developed, the essen-
tial of the universal incandescent lamp was the arch-shaped
illuminant of carbonized organic material. For many years
vain attempts had been made to produce an incandescent
lamp having as an illuminant a metal of high melting point,
such as platinum. In 1878 Sawyer and Man succeeded in
carbonizing paper and other fibrous materials hi the form
of an arch. They applied for a patent thereon in 1880.
After extended Patent Office interference proceedings with
an application of Edison, the patent was granted in 1885
by assignment from Sawyer and Man to the Electro-Dy-
namic Company. That company, incorporated in 1878, was
the earliest company organized in this country for carry-
ing on a general system of incandescent electric lighting.
In 1881 its patents and assets were sold to the Eastern Elec-
tric Company, which, in turn, in 1882 sold them to the
Consolidated Company. By the purchase of this company
the Westinghouse Electric Company became the legitimate
successor of the first incandescent-lighting company.

Meanwhile, Edison, although he was ultimately defeated

94 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

in his contest in the Patent Office with Sawyer and Man
upon the filament, secured a patent in 1880 upon a carbon
filament in an exhausted container made entirely of glass.
Sawyer and Man had shown in their application a con-
tainer in the form of a tube closed by a stopper, sealed into
the end. This "stopper lamp" became famous in its rela-
tion to the lighting of the Columbian Exposition in 1893.
Of that something will be said when we come to treat par-
ticularly of the Exposition. Two other inventions of mo-
ment should be here mentioned, one patented by Sawyer
and Man in 1879 for treating carbon conductors in an at-
mosphere of hydrocarbon, and the other an invention of
Hiram S. Maxim for making a filament out of carbonized
cellulose. These and other adversely held inventions cast
doubt on the expediency of Westinghouse entering the in-
candescent-lamp field. We shall hear more of this when we
come to the story of the Chicago World's Fair.

The status of the generator was less complicated, al-
though a patent issued to Weston in 1883, and assigned
to the United States Company, upon a self-regulating
dynamo, appears to have caused Westinghouse to doubt
the propriety of manufacturing the Stanley dynamo.
Numerous other patents on the direct-current generator and
systems of distribution were also held by the United States
and other companies.

Through Franklin L. Pope, an eminent electrical patent
expert, and Thomas B. Kerr, one of his patent lawyers,
Westinghouse was advised as to the probable bearing which
these various patents might have upon his operations, and
particularly upon the Stanley incandescent lamp and
dynamo. The results of these investigations apparently
caused Westinghouse to hestitate at the time, but in March,
1885, he, with some apparent reluctance, consented to the

EARLY LIGHTING INSTALLATIONS 95

organization of a company to take over the business pre-
viously carried on by Westinghouse as a personal under-
taking at a cost of about $150,000. Westinghouse pro-
posed that the company if fonned should be known as the
Stanley Electric Company. This plan, however, was not
then carried into effect, and Westinghouse showed no great
enthusiasm for electric ventures until the alternating sys-
tem had made its strong appeal to him.

But direct-current development was by no means aban-
doned. Research work, design, and experiment went on,
and early in 1886 a Westinghouse direct-current incandes-
cent-lighting plant was installed in the Windsor Hotel in
New York. About the same time a similar plant was placed
in the Monongahela Hotel in Pittsburgh. The first cen-
tral-station Westinghouse equipment was at Trenton,
N. J., the installation of which was begun in the latter part
of May 1886, by the construction firm of Westinghouse,
Church, Kerr & Company, and practically completed late
in August of that year. The generating plant consisted of
six 100-volt, 300-light, direct-current, shunt-wound dyna-
mos of the Siemens type. Similar direct-current plants
were soon after placed in Plainfield, N. J., and in Schenec-
tady, N. Y., the present home of the General Electric Com-
pany, and installation in many other cities followed. In
August 1889, more than 350,000 incandescent lamps were
in service in connection with the central-station plants in-
stalled with apparatus produced by the Westinghouse Elec-
tric Company requiring about 40,000 horsepower. Of
these lamps a large number, perhaps the greater number,
were alternating current.

The beginning of those activities of Westinghouse in
alternating-current development, which were to revolution-
ize the electric art, was late in 1886; but we will go on now

96 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

with some further details and return shortly to the alternat-
ing current.

In course of time Westinghouse decided to take up arc
lighting, and in November 1888 he bought the entire cap-
ital stock of the Waterhouse Electric and Manufacturing
Company. This was more than ten years after the instal-
lation of arc lights in the Place de T Opera in Paris, and
the people of many cities, in many lands, had become fa-
miliar with the dazzling glare of enormous lamps. The
Waterhouse system, direct current, was supposed to be
well developed and the company had established a con-
siderable business. It gradually appeared that a system
that would do pretty well on a small scale was not neces-
sarily fit for large-scale operation. The Waterhouse ap-
paratus when in service demanded too much personal at-
tention from experts. After considerable redesign the
system was dropped.

Meanwhile, Stanley, a versatile and clever man, thought
that he had discovered a principle in alternator design that
might be the basis of a system of arc lighting by alternat-
ing current. Westinghouse was much taken by some fea-
tures of this new system, which were indeed plausible, and
the company spent a great deal of money developing it
and pushing it commercially. Many difficulties developed.
One of these, and a serious one, was the fact that the alter-
nating-current arc lamp of those days was inferior to the
direct-current lamp. The light of the alternating-current
arc lamp was from the incandescent tips of the carbons.
In the direct-current arc lamp of those days much of the
light was from a glowing crater formed in the upper carbon.
From this crater a big part of the total light developed by
the arc was projected downward. In the alternating-cur-
rent lamp of the time craters formed in both carbons, and

CHANGES IN LIGHTING 97

the light from the lower carbon was projected upward and
much of the total light was wasted. This fundamental
difficulty was corrected in later years by radically different
lamps. Furthermore, the noise of the early alternating-
current arc lamp was objectionable.

For these reasons this Stanley system of alternating arc
lighting was given up, and effort reverted to direct current.
But there were strong engineering reasons pointing to the
alternating-current system, particularly the possibility of
using larger generating units in central stations. Slowly
came radical changes in lamps. The flaming arc lamp came
in; the arc flame itself was used as the source of light in-
stead of the craters. The energy expended in the arc
became the important thing; not the kind of current. De-
tail improvements went on in the lamp itself and in regu-
lation until generation for direct-current arc systems al-
most disappeared from the market so far as new apparatus
was concerned. This must have been a pleasing outcome
for Westinghouse, who never let the alternating-current
idea sleep.

On the whole, the Westinghouse Company did a good
deal for arc lighting in original research, in developing lamps
and other apparatus, and in commercial effort; but arc
lighting never became either a specialty with the company
or a very important part of the business. In the nature of
things, this was logical, for it was obvious almost from the
start that immensely the greater part of the artificial light-
ing of the world must be by something capable of indefinite
subdivision into small units, and to this the incandescent
lamp lent itself admirably. We shall see later that West-
inghouse gave much attention to the development of vari-
ous forms of glow lamps.

With the coming of the gas-filled or nitrogen lamp the

98 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

arc lamp is gradually disappearing from the active field.
Unless something new and surprising develops, the arc
lamp evidently is doomed. For the same energy expended,
the nitrogen lamp probably gives but little more light, if
any, than the arc lamp, but, like all incandescent lamps,
it requires practically no attendance except for replace-
ment in case of breakage. It can operate directly from the
alternating-current system, with regulators for constant
current. Therefore, it may be said that lighting by arc
lamps, practically the earliest branch of the electric-light-
ing business, has now been superseded by incandescent
lamps.

The Westinghouse Electric Company went steadily for-
ward in developing and producing machinery and appara-
tus for lighting, and in a few years railway work began to
look important. As time went on the Company carried out
an enormous development, and it has brought about some
of the greatest advances in the direct-current field. Par-
ticulars of some of these will be told when we come to speak
of the Company's activities in transportation.

In 1890 the Company built a 250-horsepower direct-
current generator for railway service. Possible customers
came hundreds of miles to see one of the largest machines
in the world. There was some discussion as to whether a
larger generator would ever be built. Certain things hap-
pened in the tests which the visitors did not see. For in-
stance, parts of the armature winding shifted on the smooth,
cylindrical core as much as an inch. The armature was
tinkered up, the machine was shipped, and gave satisfac-
tory service. This incident led to one of the very important
improvements in direct-current dynamo construction, the
use of slotted armatures in large dynamos; they had been
used before in small ones. After the building of a machine

CHANGES IN GENERATORS 99

of this type was well under way the opinion of high authori-
ties was taken, in Europe and America. They agreed that
it was absolutely impossible to make satisfactory large-
capacity, slotted-armature railway dynamos, and that it
was a waste of money to attempt it. The Westinghouse
people went on; and when this first machine was tested the
results surprised even the designers, and it was evident
that a big step forward had been made. The slotted arma-
ture soon superseded all other types in large direct-current
work, and several manufacturers were temporarily driven
out of the field. For a time the Westinghouse Company
was the pace maker with its slotted-armature, multipolar
generator.

About this time, in the early nineties, came the direct-
connected generator, followed quickly by the engine-type
machine. Theretofore the generator had been driven from
the prime mover by a belt. The direct-coupled set was a
generator complete, with its own bearings, connected to .a
standard high-speed engine. In the true engine-type ma-
chine the armature is on the engine shaft. This construc-
tion called for many changes in details, but the develop-
ment was rapid, and generator units quickly increased in
size. By 1894 machines of 1500 kilowatts were built, and
by 1898 generators of 3000 kilowatts were in hand. In
this development the Westinghouse Company had a great
part, but about 1899 it gave the large direct-current genera-
tor its death blow. The rotary converter had been de-
veloped by Westinghouse's engineers, and they had brought
forward the alternating-current machinery and apparatus.
The combination made it unnecessary to build large direct-
current generators for the special places where large volumes
of direct current were required. Electric energy could be
developed and transmitted as alternating current and con-

100 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

verted as needed. An account of the origin, nature, and
functions of the rotary generator will be given later. The
economic consequences of what had happened will become
clear as we go on.

Let us now go back a few years and try to find the origin
and trace the development of the alternating-current con-
ception in the mind of Westinghouse. While in Italy in
the early part of 1882 he had formed a close friendship
with Doctor Diomede Pantaleoni, an eminent Italian phy-
sician, whose son, Guido Pantaleoni, recently had been
graduated from the University of Turin. Through this
acquaintance Westinghouse became interested in a proc-
ess, invented by an Italian, for making artificial marble
from gypsum, and he arranged with Guido Pantaleoni and
Albert Schmid, a young Swiss engineer, to come to America
for the purpose of manufacturing this product. The process
was never of commercial utility, and Westinghouse placed
Pantaleoni in general charge of certain activities of the
Union Switch & Signal Company which brought him into
contact with the electrical work upon which Stanley was

Pantaleoni was called back to Italy in May 1885, by the
death of his father, and having occasion to visit his old pro-
fessor, Galileo Ferraris, at Turin, he there met Lucian Gau-
lard, who had installed between Lanzo and Circe an alter-
nating-current system of distribution, patented by himself
and John Dixon Gibbs. This meeting had great conse-
quences. Leonard E. Curtis, an eminent patent lawyer,
who later became associated with Thomas B. Kerr, counsel
for the Westinghouse Company, and was for twenty years
in the thick of the movement, writes: "It was in 1885 that
Mr. Westinghouse became interested in the inventions of
Gaulard and Gibbs relating to the use of single-phase alter-

GAULARD AND GIBBS APPEAR

nating currents for distribution by means of what -they,
called secondary generators (now called transformers), and
that was the starting point of the great development of
the alternating-current system. All of us who knew any-
thing at all about the practical application of electricity,
knew that the induction coil was necessarily the most in-
efficient transformer of energy possible, and we also thought
we knew that there were other objections to the use of al-
ternating currents, which would make their commercial
use wholly impracticable. It required the combination of
an erratic Frenchman, Gaulard, as an inventor, and a sporty
Englishman, Gibbs, as a financial backer, to make the neces-
sary experiments to show that that was not necessarily so,
and it required a man of wide vision and adequate resources
for making his dreams come true, like Mr. Westinghouse,
to introduce the alternating-current system into the wide
field it was destined to occupy." No one knows just when
Westinghouse began to think of the immense results to
flow from the transformation of voltage and current: but
it is certain that very early he appreciated that the limita-
tions of the low-voltage direct-current system might be
overcome by such transformation. He foresaw quite clearly
a broad field for electric power, and this was the vision of
which we often speak.

As regards Gaulard and Gibbs, the impression conveyed
by Mr. Curtis is neither just nor adequate. Gibbs speaks
of Gaulard as a "talented young Frenchman," as he un-
doubtedly was. It is true, however, that he died insane.
Gibbs may have been sporty; he was a "good sport," and
he lost his fortune like a man. Neither of them was an
electrical engineer. Gibbs says he "conceived the idea
that it would be a great step, if it should be possible, to
convey an electric current capable of lighting a small in-

102 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

candescent glow lamp at a considerable distance, perhaps
some miles from the dynamos, as was already possible with
arc lamps, while the more generally useful incandescent
lamp could not be lighted beyond 500 yards from the power-
station." He hired Gaulard, and they soon "discovered
and demonstrated that the actual transformation of alter-
nating current practically costs no expenditure of energy."
Their first transformer is now in the South Kensington
Museum. They took out patents, organized companies,
took lighting contracts, and made exhibitions. Their pat-
ents were attacked, and the suits finally went to the House
of Lords on appeal. Here after seven years of litigation
Gibbs was defeated. He says: "I left the House of Lords
a ruined man." But he died hard. With the help of Schnei-
der of Creusot he organized a French company to distribute
electric power on the left bank of the Seine, but he does
not seem to have recouped his fortune.

The "secondary generator" (or transformer) of Gaulard
and Gibbs was first shown in public in 1883 at the Royal
Aquarium in London. It was exhibited in Turin in 1884,
and a plant was installed at Tivoli to send lighting current
to Rome. For this installation the Italian Government
gave Gaulard and Gibbs a gold medal and a prize of £400.

Pantaleoni was so much impressed by what he saw and
learned at Turin that he cabled an account to Westinghouse,
who promptly requested Pantaleoni to secure an option
upon the American rights of Gaulard and Gibbs. Accord-
ingly Pantaleoni proceeded to London and there met Gibbs,
and secured from him an option which he brought back
with him upon his return to the United States in 1885.
Westinghouse at once accepted the option in principle, al-
though asking for certain changes in detail.

Westinghouse instructed Pope to make a careful investi-

LOOKS INTO GAULARD AND GIBBS 103

gation of the Gaulard and Gibbs patent situation and to
study the possibilities of their system. Pope, in testimony
given in 1887, in connection with the Gaulard and Gibbs
patent litigation, said:

My own impression at first sight was, like that of every
one else, an unfavorable one. The knowledge which I had
gathered in the ordinary course of my professional experi-
ence^led me to expect that the loss of energy in conversion
would be so great as to render the scheme commercially
unprofitable, and that this lost energy, appearing in the
form of heat, would quickly destroy the apparatus, or at
least render it useless; and it was not until I had gone care-
fully through the published researches of Hopkinson and
Ferraris that I found reason to change my opinion. I fol-
lowed up the matter by personal investigations of the ap-
paratus in operation, and was convinced of its novelty and
industrial value.

The extracts which I have quoted are but fair samples
of the communications and articles which appeared in many
of the technical periodicals, and in fact I may say that, so
far as I now recollect, all these journals, without exception,
whenever they took any notice at all of the work of Gaulard
and Gibbs, did so in a spirit of hostile criticism, which con-
tinued nc-t only long after the successful installation of the
plant in many places, but continues in many quarters up
to the present hour.

Westinghouse instructed Stanley and his assistants,
Schmid and 0. B. Shallenberger, to make tests to determine
the commercial value of the Gaulard and Gibbs system. He
also arranged to have a number of the transformers and a
Siemens alternating-current generator forwarded from Eng-
land to Pittsburgh. This apparatus was brought over by
Reginald Belfield, an assistant of Gaulard and Gibbs, who
arrived in this country late in November 1885.

104 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

In the meantime considerable progress had been made
abroad. A plant had been installed at Aschersleben, Ger-
many, which appears to have been moderately satisfactory.
A bit of the Metropolitan Railway (London) had been
lighted, from Netting Hill Gate to Aldgate. The Grosvenor
Gallery Company had been formed to light the Bond Street
and Regent Street districts. This is now one of the largest
lighting companies of London. In the spring of 1885 the
Inventions Exhibition (London) had been opened with
Mr. Belfield in charge there of the Gaulard and Gibbs ap-
paratus. The installations of the Gaulard and Gibbs " secon-
dary generators" at Turin, on the Metropolitan Railway,
and at the Inventions Exhibition received much attention
in the technical press of Europe. As one result of the knowl-
edge thus spread abroad Zipernowski, Deri, and BMthey,
engineers in the employ of Ganz of Budapesth, brought out
transformers which were shown at the Inventions Exhibi-
tion. These were designed and wound to run with their
primaries in parallel, an arrangement which Westinghouse
adopted from the start although the Gaulard and Gibbs
apparatus was designed for operation in series.

Immediately on the arrival of the Gaulard and Gibbs ap-
paratus at Pittsburgh, Westinghouse began his study of it.
Those who knew him will understand the energy he threw
into this work, and how practical were his suggestions on the
mechanical side, and how readily he grasped the theoreti-
cal lines necessary, applying his mechanical knowledge and
skill to the information he obtained, with the result that
in an astonishingly short time the uncommercial secondary
generator was correctly started on the direct line of develop-
ment into the modern transformer. A great step had been
taken. It led directly to the enormous electrical advance
that we have seen during the past three decades, and the

HOW HE WORKED 105

essential conceptions were formed and pretty well developed
within about three weeks — from December 1 to December
20, 1885.

Those who watched Westinghouse and worked with him
through the years ceased to be surprised at his capacity to
do extraordinary things and to do them quickly. They
learned too, that this capacity was not only a matter of
intellectual gifts, but also a matter of dogged industry and
of power to work fast and to make other men work fast.
Through the long evenings he worked in his private car
and in his house, designing, sketching, and dictating. In
his car any corner of a table would do, in his house he worked
on a billiard table. Seated and leaning uncomfortably over
the rail, he drew rapidly and with accuracy and complete-
ness of detail, while those around him watched and an-
swered questions and made suggestions if they could. Prob-
ably he had no pencil but borrowed one from the nearest
man. As these pencils were never returned one wondered
what became of them. His trail through the world was
blazed with other men's pencils. An instance of his speed-
ing-up other men is told by Mr. E. M. Herr, now President
of the Electric Company, and some time General Manager
of the Brake Company. Mr. Herr says:

In all my experience with and work for Mr. Westing-
house, I never but once succeeded in doing a piece of work
for him quicker than he thought it could be done. On this
occasion he sent me a pattern to Wilmerding (the Air Brake
Works), which arrived there Sunday morning. He had
notified Mrs. Herr in my absence on Saturday that this
would be at Wilmerding on Sunday, and that she should
be particular to see that I got this information immediately
on my return, Sunday morning. On getting the informa-
tion, I called up the .superintendent of the foundry at Wil-

106 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

merding, told him of this pattern and asked him to get it
at the station, and see if he could get one of our moulders
to mould it Sunday afternoon so that it could be poured the
first thing Monday morning. Owing to the continuous
process of moulding in use at the Air Brake Company's
foundry, unlike other foundries, the pouring of metal began
at seven o'clock in the morning. I was at Wilmerding be-
fore seven o'clock that Monday morning, and saw that
this pattern was poured of the first iron out of the cupola,
as I expected Mr. Westinghouse would be out on an early
train to see what progress we had made on this casting which
he had told me he wished to have sent to the Electric Works
at East Pittsburgh as soon as it was cold enough to be hauled
down there. As soon as the metal had hardened in the
mould, we took it out, put some sand in one of our delivery
wagons, and put the red-hot casting in it and sent it to the
Electric Works. The wagon had hardly got out of the yard
when Mr. Westinghouse appeared. In his usual pleasant
manner he greeted us, wished us good morning, and asked
me if I had got word about the pattern he had sent out on
Sunday. I told him I had and he then asked when it would
be moulded. I told him it was moulded. " Indeed. When
will you have a casting?" "The casting is made/' I re-
plied. "That so? That's good. How soon can you send
it to the Electric Company?" I said: "It has gone." Mr.
Westinghouse looked at me, hesitated a moment, turned
around and started off at a brisk pace. "Then I will go
down there and hustle those fellows," and off he went.

»* '• • i •

An old employee tells this: "The drum rolled off and

broke in two pieces, so we had to hustle and make a new
one before Mr. Westinghouse got around. We worked all
night, but did not succeed in finishing the work before Mr.
Westinghouse got to the works the following morning, so
our foreman had to tell him what had happened. All he
said was: 'It is a good thing such accidents happen, just
to see how fast you fellows can work/ "

George Westinghouse at work.
(From a snapshot photograph.)

THE BIRTH OF THE TRANSFORMER 107

There are many tales of this sort floating about in the
various companies.

It is not to be understood that Westinghouse, in a miracu-
lous three weeks, by a flash of genius, made the transformer.
The way was long and hard and many fine minds were en-
listed. What happened was that the swift and penetrating
insight of Westinghouse, and his keen and experienced me-
chanical faculty, discerned what must be done to change a
scientific toy into a commercial tool, and the way to do it.

A general word about the transformer may help us to
appreciate what follows. . The transformer is not interest-
ing to look at. It is a mere mass of metal, dull and mo-
tionless. % It is not even graceful in outline or proportion.
But it is the heart of the alternating-current system. 'The
reason for being of the alternating-current system lies in
its capabilities for simple transformation of voltage over
almost any required range, from hundreds of thousands of
volts down to almost nothing. Without this ability to trans-
form voltage, the alternating-current system probably
would not exist today, or at least it would doubtless hold
a position secondary to direct current. This capability of
voltage transformation lies in the transformer itself. It
will be said many times in this narrative, and in many ways,
that the development of the art of distributing electric
energy by means of the alternating current has already
changed the face of society, and still greater changes are
yet to come. Therein is the meaning of that three weeks
at East Pittsburgh and of the later work of Stanley, Shal-
lenberger, and Schmid in developing the transformer. Stan-
ley's part in this development will be told in some detail
as we proceed. A word in passing is due to Shallenberger
and Schmid, both dead now. They were highly gifted men
of particularly fine character. They were young in years

108 A LIFE OP GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

in 1886 and young in the electric art, but they made an
impression on the product of the company which lasts to
this day. The present Chief Engineer says that "it was
due to Shallenberger that the early Westinghouse transform-
ers were brought to a practical commercial condition. He
was a good analytical man and was able to take very scanty
data and get practical results." The memory of Shallen-
berger and Schmid is held in affection and esteem by those
who worked with them in the pioneer years.

The "secondary generator" as brought to the United
States was designed by Gaulard, who had discussed it with
some of the most prominent scientists in Europe, and it
should have been, from the advantages M. Gaulard en-
joyed, further developed than it actually was. The original
apparatus was the old and well-known induction coil. It
was not a practicable commercial apparatus from the stand-
point of the manufacturer or of the user. Westinghouse,
as soon as he grasped the fundamental electrical facts under-
lying the working of the instrument, applied himself to the
production of a piece of apparatus which could be wound
on a lathe, discarding the unpractical soldered joints and
stamped copper disks for the more commercial form of ordi-
nary insulated copper wire, and it was then a question of
only a few days before he had evolved the H-shaped plate
built up, and then the primary and secondary were wound
in place on a lathe, and the ends were closed by means of
intervening I-shaped plates. These are the essentials of a
modern transformer. It is interesting to look back and
realize that with the time that this invention had been be-
fore the public and the many minds working on it, no simple
and practical solution should have been found, whereas it
took Westinghouse only three weeks to work out those
leading features of mechanical design which have been
standard ever since.

THE GROWTH OF THE TRANSFORMER 109

Stanley, working under the direction of Westinghouse,
devised a further improvement, which consisted in secur-
ing the enclosure of the coils by making the core of E-
shaped plates, the central projections of each successive
plate being alternately inserted through prewound coils
from opposite sides, thus permitting separate winding and
consequently the better insulation of the coils. This form
was further improved by Albert Schmid, who extended
the ends of the arms of the E to meet the central pro-
jection. When inserting these plates the extensions were
temporarily bent upward, and upon being released each
plate formed a closed magnetic circuit about the sides of
the coils.

In the early transformers the core-plates were made of
very thin sheet iron commonly called tintype metal, hav-
ing one side covered with thin paper to prevent the flow
of eddy or Foucault currents. Pasting paper on the plates
was highly objectionable as a manufacturing process, and
this led Albert Schmid to build a transformer without the
paper. To the surprise but greatly to the gratification of
the electrical engineers of the company it was found that
the oxide formed upon the surface of the iron sheets served
as a sufficient insulation and, with the decreased separation
of the sheets, resulted in increased efficiency* The use of
paper was then discontinued.

Mention should also be made of two other important
early contributions to the development of the transform-
ers made by Westinghouse in 1886, one of which is the
ventilated core for preventing overheating by permitting
the circulation of air; the other is the well-known oil-cooled
transformer of the present time. The patent secured by
Westinghouse on the latter device was the subject of ex-
tensive litigation, which resulted in the patent being
broadly sustained.

110 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

These various inventions and discoveries led up within
a year to commercial production of transformers of high
efficiency and excellent regulating qualities. The develop-
ment was a fine engineering performance in speed and in
quality. The most important single contribution was by
Stanley. He brought out the parallel connection in which
the transformers are connected in parallel, across the con-
stant-potential alternating-current system, instead of being
arranged in series, as in the Gaulard and Gibbs connection.
He obtained patents on the method, involving the construc-
tion of transformers in which the counter electromotive
force generated in the primary of the transformer was prac-
tically equal to the electromotive force of the supply cir-
cuit. This is obvious now, but in 1886, when the principles
and characteristics of the alternating current were prac-
tically unknown, it was a wonderful invention, and revolu-
tionary in character. On this invention Stanley's fame
largely rests. Of course Stanley did not discover or invent
a theory of counter electromotive force before any one
else had thought of it. Such fundamental things seldom
happen in invention. His claim to great and original merit
rests on the discovery of a theory which was new to him
and the use of it in making a structure of immense impor-
tance in the affairs of men. Westinghouse's situation as
an original inventor of the air brake is exactly similar.
Briefly, all transformers now made are built upon practi-
cally the same principles as those that were developed in
these early products of the Westinghouse Company.

According to the Gaulard and Gibbs system as at first
announced the transformers were arranged in series. As to
the broad principle of parallel connection of transformers
instead of the Gaulard and Gibbs series arrangement, it is
of interest to note that under date of June 2, 1883, an ar-

THE REVOLUTION IS BEGUN 111

tide by Rankin Kennedy appeared in the London Tele-
graphic Journal and Electrical Review in which he demon-
strated that with transformers having their primaries ar-
ranged in parallel rather than in series, "the secondary
generator is a beautiful self-governing system of distribu-
tion"; apparently, however, Kennedy had not then in
mind the possibility of using high-potential primary and
low-potential secondary coils, and was thus led into the
error of closing his article with the expression, "but what
about the size of conductors for such a system? Pro-
digious." Fortunately, the engineers at Pittsburgh were
not led into like errors, and Kennedy himself soon cor-
rected his views.

To sum up in a few words : Gaulard and Gibbs considered,
developed, and demonstrated crudely the general principle
of transformation of electrical energy. De*ri, BMthy, and
Zipernowski of Budapesth early began research in the same
direction. Westinghouse took the crude ideas and, with
his engineers, worked out a commercial system and revo-
lutionized the electric art.

The swift development in December 1885, and in
the first months of 1886 satisfied Westinghouse as to the
great merit of the system and of its tremendous possibili-
ties. He quickly realized that the alternating-current
system was the solution of the problem of economically
transmitting through long distances, inasmuch as it could
carry large quantities of electrical energy in the form of
high voltage and low amperage, and that the transformers
supplied the means for locally readjusting the voltage to
consumption requirements.

Having decided that the capabilities of the system war-
ranted using every endeavor to secure proper patent pro-
tection in the United States, Westinghouse in January

112 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

1886, sent Pantaleoni and Pope to England to complete
the negotiations with Gaulard and Gibbs and prepare the
necessary patent applications. This was accomplished in
February. The article of Rankin Kennedy above referred
to also presented possibilities in the patent direction, and
later Westinghouse bought the Kennedy American rights.
Zipernowski, Deri, and Blathy had obtained a British
patent in 1884 for "Improvements in transforming and
distributing alternating current and apparatus therefore."
Some negotiations were had by Westinghouse looking to
the purchase of these rights, but it was later found their
opportunity of obtaining in the United States any patents
of value had been forfeited, and negotiations with them
were dropped.

Early in the work upon the alternating system there was
brought to the attention of Westinghouse the fact that
Philip Diehl, of Elizabeth, N. J., then Superintendent of
the Singer Sewing Machine Company, had done some early
work with alternating currents, particularly in the line of
producing an incandescent lamp without leading-in wires.
DiehTs plan was to enclose within the lamp globe the secon-
dary of an induction coil and induce currents therein by
an externally located primary coil. Diehl had obtained
patents upon these devices, and because of the possible
bearing which DiehTs work might have upon the whole
alternating-current system, Westinghouse in 1887 bought
these patents as a precautionary measure, but not with
the thought that this form of incandescent lamp in itself
would prove to be of practical worth.

When Westinghouse became convinced that the alter-
nating-current system would be of the very greatest im-
portance to mankind in enlarging the field for the use of
electrical energy, he became possessed of a strong desire

A COMPANY FORMED 113

to take up and carry on the work of its development. On
December 23, 1885, he, in company with H. H. Westing-
house, John Caldwell, Frank L. Pope, John Dalzell, John
R. McGinley, C. H. Jackson, and Robert Pitcairn, executed
articles of association and an application for a charter for
a corporation to be known as the Westinghouse Electric
Company, the capital stock of which was to be $1,000,000.
Among the assets of the corporation were twenty-seven
patents and applications relating to the electrical art in-
cluding those of Gaulard and Gibbs, Stanley, Shallenberger,
and others. The charter was granted January 8, 1886,
and the practical organization of the company was effected
March 8, 1886, Westinghouse being made President, H.
H. Westinghouse, Vice-President, A. T. Rowan, Secretary,
and Guido Pantaleoni remained General Manager until
September 15, 1886, when he resigned and H. H. Byllesby,
who had been the electrical executive of Westinghouse,
Church, Kerr & Company, was elected to that office.

Late in 1885 Stanley's health having been impaired he
had moved to Great Barrington, Mass., and Westinghouse
assumed the expense of conducting there a laboratory for
the purpose of further developing and practically demon-
strating the utility of the alternating system. Belfield,
who had brought over the Gaulard and Gibbs apparatus
and who had spent a few weeks with Westinghouse at Pitts-
burgh, helping in the design of the new transformer, went
with Stanley. Their chief work was to develop the trans-
former commercially. They designed, built, and installed
an experimental plant at Great Barrington, comprising a
dynamo sent over from England and wires extending to
various stores in the center of the town, where were placed
transformers feeding lamps for lighting the stores. The
operation of this experimental plant began March 16,

114 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

1886. This was the first operating alternating-current
transformer installation in the United States. The first
commercial plant employing the alternating-current system
was installed by the Westinghouse Company in Buffalo,
N. Y., where it was put in operation November 30, 1886.
This was rapidly followed by other installations scattered
throughout the country.

Coincidentally with the development of the transformer,
the company brought out a new alternating-current genera-
tor designed by Stanley. This was a much more practical
and efficient form than the old Siemens type. Many other
devices required in connection with the system were pro-
duced with surprising rapidity by the corps of brilliant
young engineers who entered the employ of the company
during the first two or three years. The contributions of
Shallenberger and Schmid proved to be of inestimable value
to the company, and the high regard which Westinghouse
held for both of these brilliant inventors and their aides
he manifested at every opportunity. Among the devices
which immediately found extensive use was a voltage regu-
lator invented by Lewis B. Stillwell, a young engineer just
graduated from college, who at the suggestion of Byllesby
was employed by Westinghouse late in 1886. Stillwell ex-
plained the regulator to Westinghouse as a device adapted
to raise the alternating-current voltage at any desired
point. Westinghouse was greatly pleased and at once
christened it the "Stillwell booster," a title which became
the popular name of this type of apparatus, technically
called the Stillwell regulator. Various other important ad-
juncts to the system were devised by Byllesby, Shallen-
berger, Belfield, and others of the company's force.

As soon as it became evident that Westinghouse proposed
to exploit extensively the alternating-current system great

ALTERNATING CURRENT RESISTED 115

opposition was developed. Looking back at history, one is
surprised at the stupidity and the puerility of some of this
opposition. Men of great repute gave their names and
their help to methods of which they must now be thor-
oughly ashamed. They know now that if they had suc-
ceeded, the progress of civilization would have been delayed
— how much and how long we cannot even guess. Lord
Kelvin said: "The electric development we know today
would long have halted without his daring and resourceful-
ness." Assertions were made that the alternating current
was dangerous and deadly, that its use should not be per-
mitted commercially, and numerous articles appeared in
the newspapers and elsewhere designed to prejudice public
opinion against the system. The most popular electrician
in the world wrote in the North American Review, Novem-
ber 1889: "There is no plea which will justify the use of
high alternating currents, either in a scientific or commer-
cial sense . . . and my personal desire would be to pro-
hibit entirely the use of the alternating current."

If anything was needed to urge Westinghouse to greater
effort, this antagonism served the purpose, he being well
convinced from his own observations and the counsel of his
electrical associates that of the two the direct current
brought greater risk to life and property. This was not
because one form of current was, in its nature, more dan-
gerous than the other, but because of the conditions of use.
This contest, long and acrimonious on the part of the op-
ponents, Westinghouse met with smiling calmness and
justified confidence. It is needless to enlarge upon this
aspect of the development. Every well-informed human
being knows Westinghouse was right, the alternating elec-
tric current being now used to generate and convey about
95 per cent of the electric energy used in power and light-

116 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

ing in the United States. The latest information available
at the time of writing is from the United States Census of
Electrical Industries for 1917. The census of equipment
of central stations (commercial and municipal) and of elec-
tric railways shows that the kilowatt capacity of direct-
current generators "forms a negligible part of the total."
In fact it was about 5 per cent in 1917. An exact statement
is not possible, for the returns from electric railways are
not complete, and the census report gives no figures for the
"isolated plants" operated solely for the benefit of the owner
and none for plants owned and operated by the Federal
and State governments. It does not seem important, how-
ever, to elaborate the point. Some notion of the present
size of the business of distributing electric power may be
got from the fact that in 1919 the central power stations
of the United States generated 40,000,000,000 kilowatt-
hours of energy. This was carried to the users over 87,000
miles of high-tension transmission lines. And yet there is
scarcely a central power station which can meet the de-
mand upon it for power for industrial uses.

This is briefly the history of the beginning of the indus-
trial and commercial use of the alternating-current system.
For transmitting power electricity has no economical com-
petitor. Its limitation is the cost of conductors; this is
less if the volume of current is small and the voltage is high.
This is seen in the early struggles of the direct-current cen-
tral station to increase its area of distribution. The in-
crease from 110 to 220 volts by the so-called three-wire sys-
tem and the unsuccessful endeavor to devise other systems
by which higher voltages could be used indicated the need
of higher voltage and set the limit of the direct current.
The transformer in permitting a small current, transmitted
at high voltage, to be transformed into a large current at

CENTRAL POWER-STATION IDEA 117

low voltage by means of stationary apparatus supplies the
essential factor in electric transmission. This Westinghouse
early appreciated. The whole story of electrical progress
is the story of advancing voltages. Each increase has been
followed by transmission to longer distances and the eco-
nomic use of power on a larger scale.

Westinghouse's conception of what had been done may
be summed up in a few words to be found in a paper pre-
sented by him at a joint meeting of engineering societies
in London in 1910:

As an illustration of the wonders of the laws of nature,
few inventions or discoveries with which we are familiar
can excel the static transformer of the electrical energy of
alternating currents of high voltage into the equivalent
energy at a lower voltage. To have discovered how to make
an inert mass of metal capable of transforming alternat-
ing currents of 100,000 volts into currents of any required
lower voltage with a loss of only a trifle of the energy so
transformed would have been to achieve enduring fame.
The facts divide this honor among a few, the beneficiaries
will be tens of millions.

We have now traced in a general way the growth in the
mind of George Westinghouse of his interest in the uses
of electricity, and we have traced also some of the steps
taken in putting that interest into practice. It remains
to consider some specific developments; but first let us
note the big fundamental thought that gradually took pos-
session of his mind and eventually came to dominate it.
Around this thought was built the great structure of his
electrical industries, and it influenced later the nature and
direction of his mechanical industries. For convenience we
may call this the central power-station idea, the idea of
manufacturing power in quantities, at advantageous places,

118 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

and distributing it for use. It is one phase of the era of
manufactured power into which mankind entered when
James Watt made the steam engine a tool for the con-
version of energy for convenient daily use, which began a
new era in the history of the race. The reader will of
course observe that we do not say creating power, which is
manifestly absurd, but manufacturing power, which is
merely changing matter and energy, in form and place. It
is the world-old (universe-old) process of transforming en-
ergy. Until steam was harnessed, man had transformed
energy, for his own use and convenience, by hand and by
help of his tamed animals and, in favored localities, by
wind and water. When he learned to use steam, he ac-
quired a new capacity, the capacity to transform energy by
machinery, and this is called for convenience manufacturing
power. Harnessing the alternating current was the next
great step in enlarging this new capacity, as will be shown
in some detail as we go on.

Westinghouse's conception of the place in the affairs of
man of central power systems became great when he real-
ized the possibilities of the use of alternating current. That
realization was an inspiration of genius. It did not come
overnight; it was not a bolt out of the blue; it had a back-
ground of thought and experience, and we are told that
genius is a manifestation of the capacity to "toil terribly."

It is not possible to say when the thought of central
power systems first took a great place in the mind of West-
inghouse. He did, however, develop early the idea of con-
verting energy into useful power, on a large scale, at suit-
able places, carrying it to greater or less distances, and dis-
tributing it for the "use and convenience of man." This
is the conception at the bottom of one of the most impor-
tant advances in production, transportation, and comfort.

CENTRAL POWER-STATION IDEA 119

Watt and the steam engine made the manufacture of power
possible and changed society. The next great step was to
concentrate the manufacture of power at points where for
ctoe reason or another it could be manufactured cheaply,
and that could only be done when cheap transmission was
provided. Westinghouse more than any other one man
opened up the way for cheap transmission of power — this
by the use of the alternating current.

In his case there was nothing apocalyptic in the central
power-system conception. It was a slow growth and took
several shapes. For years he thought of piping compressed
air along the lines of railroads to handle, not switches and
signals alone, but cranes, capstans, riveters, hammers, and
other tools. It was an alluring notion which was in his
mind long before he began to think of the uses of alternating
current, and lingered there long after the epoch-making
developments in electric transmission at Niagara Falls.
He thought, too, for a long time of piping gas to gas-engine
stations, and there developing power for manufacturing
and transportation. Of course, he had no monopoly of
such notions. Compressed air had long been distributed
in Paris for operating small machinery, and in 1889 an Amer-
ican writer said: "It is now known to be practicable to dis-
tribute from one central station to another all the light and
mechanical power used in any city" — practical but not yet
practicable, for the revolution in electrical transmission had
hardly begun. This was four years after Westinghouse
began to develop alternating-current machinery and three
years before the successful transmission at Telluride and
six years before the first operation of the Niagara plant.
It has been said that our ancestors stole all our best inven-
tions. The difference between Westinghouse and his ances-
tors and contemporaries was that he saw his vision in a big

120 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

way and followed it in a big way. It was a matter of dif-
ference of mental stature.

Having now the key to the major activities of Westing-
house for the last half of his life, we are prepared to con-
sider those activities in some detail.

CHAPTER V
THE INDUCTION MOTOR AND METER

THE transformer showed the way to transmitting alter-
nating current at high voltages and using it at low voltages.
A necessary step was to convert it into direct current for
local use. This led to the development of the rotary con-
verter, of which something is said in the next chapter.

Conversion would make it possible to use direct-current
motors, but if the alternating system was to become gen-
eral, alternating motors must be used and a meter must
be provided to measure the current consumption. These
two classes of service devices, the motor and the meter,
did not exist.

THE MOTOR

May 1, 1888, patents were issued to Nikola Tesla for
those brilliant inventions which have made his name famous
and which disclosed to the world the alternating-current
motor. A writer of authority has said: "The invention
of alternating-current motors, and the system for oper-
ating them, was one of the greatest advances ever made
in the industrial application of electricity." No one will
dispute that; in fact, he might have gone further and spe-
cifically included the field of transportation. Westinghouse
immediately saw the meaning of these patents, and on July
7 he secured an assignment of the exclusive rights under
them, and in course of time the Tesla motor became one of
the most valuable assets of the Westinghouse Company;
but not at once. The way was long and costly. In 1893

121

122 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

the induction motor (Tesla) was still experimental, although
the development cost to that stage was one element in the
financial embarrassment which nearly swamped the West-
inghouse Electric Company that year. A year or two more
passed before it had become a commercial machine.

There were two underlying reasons why seven years
should pass from Tesla's invention until it was brought to
usefulness, and why a great deal of money should be spent
in developing it.

The Tesla motor was polyphase. That is, it required two
or more currents whose periods of alternation were not
simultaneous; in the language of the art they must be out
of phase with each other. The alternating-current system
as then developed was single phase. One current was gen-
erated and transmitted over one pair of main conductors.

The second reason was a matter of frequency; that is,
the rate at which the direction of the current is reversed.
In the alternating system, as then developed, the standard
frequency was 16,000 alternations per minute or 133 cycles
per second. But it was discovered as experiment and re-
search went on that a frequency so high as 133 cycles was
not suitable for any kind of alternating current motor.

Westinghouse and his engineers stood face to face with
three fundamental facts of which the magnitude and the
meaning were not at once obvious. The motor itself must
be designed from the ground up; a system of polyphase
generation and transmission must be created; some fre-
quency lower than 133 cycles per second must be agreed
upon by engineers, manufacturers, and users. Phase and
frequency will be considered when we take up the Chicago
World's Fair and Niagara Falls episodes; now we shall
speak of the development of the induction motor.

The story of the induction motor is one of the great and

THE INDUCTION MOTOR 123

splendid chapters in electrical history, but it cannot be writ-
ten here. It would take us into deep waters of physical
science and mechanical art and it would require space be-
yond the plan and scope of this book. The subject has
attracted analytical and mathematical writers who have
produced a copious literature which can be enjoyed only
by those who have considerable gifts to start with, and who
have had a special training. The writer has a friend who
at the age of seventy-one still carries a heavy administra-
tive load and works incessantly. When asked how he
amused himself he said: "Often of an evening I read some
pure mathematics." It is not to be assumed that many
readers of this book have the background for that kind of
amusement.

The induction motor and the rotary converter made pos-
sible the prodigious development of the alternating-current
system, which has profoundly influenced the direction and
advance of industry and transportation the world over.
These two machines had their earliest practical develop-
ment in the Westinghouse Works, and engineers still active
there, who saw the beginning, have seen the induction motor
grow from little experiments to machines of 23,000 horse-
power. We may doubt if even the imagination of Westing-
house foresaw such things in 1888 when he bought the
Tesla rights.

The reader should not get the impression that Westing-
house contributed much as an engineer or as an inventor
to the induction motor. He did not. He did contribute
imagination, courage, and force of character. It is hardly
necessary to suggest which was the greater contribution.
Sir James Fitz James Stephen, in one of his delightful essays,
now forgotten by most men, says: "The real greatness of
Newton's achievement was not that he did a very hard

124 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

sum and did it right, but that he had an imagination so
powerful that he could conceive the possibility of devising
a classification which should fit the motions of all heavy
bodies whatever, from a sun to an apple." The hard sum
was done by the man who discovered a new planet by mathe-
matical analysis of the phenomena of the known planetary
system. Astronomers know the name of Adams and admire
his deed; Newton is one of the immortals.

The first three years of work on the induction motor were
mostly valuable in showing what could not be done. The
engineers played a losing game against high frequency and
single phase, and they simply developed something that
could not be used until standards of phase and frequency
were changed. Moreover, certain necessary knowledge of
motor construction was not in existence, and the engineers
started with some wrong fundamental conceptions.

In 1890 and 1891 a direct-current motor was developed
in the Westinghouse Works which had a great effect on the
advance of railway work. This was the single reduction-
gear motor, of which some account will be given when we
come to speak of electric traction. A new feature of this
railway motor, the slotted armature, was found to be suited
to alternating-current work. The results which followed
led to the analytical calculation of a new kind of induction-
motor, Stephen's "hard sum," and an experimental motor
was built and turned out to be the first motor of the modern
type constructed by anybody. By the middle of 1893 a
group of low-frequency, polyphase apparatus was built for
the Chicago World's Fair and the way was now reasonably
clear, but the induction motor was not yet commercial.
This World's Fair installation was a great event in the story
of the electric art and it will be described later at some
length.

THE TYPE B MOTOR 125

By this time it was well recognized that the immediate
need was for polyphase supply circuits. In a conference
between Westinghouse and his engineers on the polyphase
situation in general, and induction motors in particular,
the question was considered as to how to approach the in-
duction motor development from the commercial stand-
point. The suggestion was put forward that if a fad were
made of polyphase generation and the country filled with
polyphase circuits, the motor situation would take care of
itself. Orders were issued at once to bring out a line of
sixty-cycle polyphase alternators, which the company was
to push in place of the single phase. This was done and the
public accepted the polyphase quite quickly; in fact, so
quickly that the resulting demand for induction motors to
use on these polyphase circuits came before the motors were
ready. In consequence, a line of motors, which was being
planned, was rushed on the market with all possible speed.
This motor was known as the Westinghouse type B, a col-
lector-ring type of machine with starting resistance. In
spite of the speed with which it was got out, it was quite
successful, and some of these motors are operating even
today, after twenty-five years7 service. The induction
motor had changed from an experimental machine in 1893
to a commercial machine in about two years' time. Indus-
trial plants were buying polyphase generating equipment
and induction motors for changing over to electric drive.

During this time the General Electric Company had also
been developing induction motors. On account of the Tesla
patents, however, that company got out a new system called
the "monocyclic," which they claimed was really a single-
phase system and which, their engineers insisted, avoided
the Tesla polyphase patents. This monocyclic system
consisted, primarily, of a main circuit and a "teaser" cir-

126 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

cuit, the latter principally for the purpose of furnishing
the polyphase excitation. This system was fundamentally
an unbalanced polyphase system, and the Westinghouse
Company always claimed that it was an infringement.
Probably if it had gone through the courts it would have
been declared to be an infringement, but the two companies
made their well-known patent agreement, and the induction-
motor patents were covered by the cross-licenses between
the two companies, and the General Electric Company was
able to take up the straight polyphase system. This com-
pany developed the induction motor in parallel with the
Westinghouse Company, although their constructions were
quite different in many ways. Both types of motors, how-
ever, were considered thoroughly successful.

The motor of 1895 was hardly settled as standard when
a revolution came with the introduction of the type C
motor. The characteristics of this motor were materially
different from those of the motors in use and it was much
criticised, even inside the Westinghouse organization. The
engineers and salesmen of competing companies adopted
a general formula of disfavor. "It is as bad as the West-
inghouse type C motor." This new contrivance was said
to rest on a fundamental absurdity; namely, its starting
torque was "necessarily small," but the designer had in-
troduced an autotransformer to reduce the torque during
starting. The absurdity was as obvious to the sceptics as
the multiplication table. But, like Whistler's pictures,
"the stuff sold," and presently competing companies began
to put more or less accurate copies on the market. The
Westinghouse type C motor soon became the preferred type,
and eventually took a prominent place in Europe. It
advanced the induction-motor business enormously and
created a reputation for reliability and durability of the

ANALYSIS AND DESIGN 127

induction motor, compared with the direct current, which
placed the alternating motor far ahead of the direct cur-
rent for general industrial purposes.

Engineers will be interested in Mr. Lamme's short state-
ment of the beginnings of this one element in the growth of
the art. "In developing the various Westinghouse motors
which were under my charge, I had gone quite deeply into
the analysis (that is, deeply for those days). In working
out the various conditions upon which the starting torque
depended, I uncovered what seemed to me to be some hither-
to unrecognized conditions in the construction, which, if
carried far enough, would allow a very great simplification
of the motor itself. In working out the characteristic curves
of the motor I found that if I could reduce the motor re-
actance to a certain point, I could make it develop relatively
high starting torques, with a pure ' cage-type' winding on
the secondary, the simplest type of winding possible. Here-
tofore, it had been believed, very generally, that the cage
type of induction motor necessarily had poor starting torque.
My analysis of the reactance and other conditions indicated
that I could get any starting torque I pleased by properly
reducing the reactance. Others may have recognized this
same thing, but did not know that the reactance actually
could be reduced sufficiently, in a motor of commercial
proportions. My calculations of my former designs had
shown me how to reduce such reactance to almost any de-
sired value. In consequence, I figured out certain motors
with a view to making them two or three times full load
starting torque with less expensive constructions than the
then existing types. However, the figures also showed that
such motors would take very large starting currents. This
immediately led to the idea of introducing a small auto-
transformer at start for reducing the voltage, and, con-

128 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

sequently, the starting current. Mr. Schmid was quite in
sympathy with this scheme for simplifying the motor, and
he authorized the construction of several sizes. In fact,
several of these motors were sold for operating cranes be-
fore the first ones were completed, the speed control on
these first motors being obtained by varying the voltage
supplied to them. However, when the motors came through,
the tests bore out all the calculations, and this construction
was very quickly put on the market."

It may not be impertinent to suggest that this is a pretty
instance of the application of two of the qualities of the
complete engineer — the gift of seeing things and the power
to do a hard sum.

THE ALTERNATING-CURRENT METER

The alternating-current motor was provided as is told
above, but no instrument existed to measure the quantity
of current supplied to the user. Westinghouse took this
matter up personally, and in June 1887 he applied for a
patent on an alternating-current meter. In October he
filed another application jointly with one of his engineers,
Philip Lange. Patents were issued in May 1888. This
meter would have served very well if a better one had not
been devised. That soon came in a most interesting and
important invention by 0. B. Shallenberger, chief elec-
trician of the company. No doubt his mind was pretty
well saturated with the problem when an accident gave
the slight agitation which crystallized the invention.

Late in April 1888 Shallenberger was examining an
alternating-current arc lamp which had just been com-
pleted under the direction of Lange. By chance a small
coil spring got loose from the mechanism and lodged on a
plate at the top of a coil surrounding a protruding soft-iron

THE INDUCTION METER 129

core. Lange was about to replace the part, when Shallen-
berger noticed a slight movement of the spring, which was
unaccounted for. By analyzing the influences he discovered
that the spring was being subjected to a shifting magnetic
field. Directly he said to his assistant Stillwell, who also
was present, and to Lange: "There's a meter in that and
perhaps a motor." Within two weeks he designed and
built a most successful alternating-current meter of the
induction type, and within a few months these were being
produced in quantity.

Although this meter operates on the same fundamental
principle as the Tesla motor, neither Shallenberger nor the
public had knowledge of Tesla's work till some days later.
Shallenberger had thus independently invented a form of
induction motor. It should be added that Tesla on
learning the facts not only added his congratulations to
Shallenberger on his skill in devising the meter but ex-
pressed sympathy in the natural disappointment which
came to Shallenberger on finding that he was anticipated
by Tesla in the invention of the motor itself. Another in-
cident is worthy of note as illustrating how different minds
in widely different localities independently think along
like lines. Within a day or two after Shallenberger's con-
ception in Pittsburgh, Galileo Ferraris in Turin published
a lecture which he had delivered to his class in the Uni-
versity of Turin as early as 1885, describing a like form of
alternating-current motor. These occurrences were in the
latter part of April 1888, and Tesla's patents then pending
in the Patent Office at Washington were issued May 1,
1888.

CHAPTER VI
THE ROTARY CONVERTER

THE story of the development of the transformer has
been told in earlier pages and told at some length because
of its immense importance in the electric art. It is now
well understood that the transformer is an instrument for
changing the voltages of alternating current, and so making
the current transmitted at one potential available for use
at another potential. It is a fundamental tool and has made
possible the prodigious development of the use of electricity
in the last quarter of a century. But the transformer was
not enough. To transmit electric energy over considerable
distances, high-potential alternating current must be used;
but there are many important uses for direct current which
alternating current does not meet. Moreover, in the dawn
of the alternating-current art there were great investments
in direct-current motors which would be sacrificed reluc-
tantly, if at all. For example, all electric railway work
was then direct current. The economic distance to which
direct current could be carried had not yet been fixed; but
it was already clear to the seeing eye that a great extension
of electric railroads would demand numerous power stations
to keep the generation of power within practicable distance
from its work if direct current were used. The same set
of facts was met in electric lighting and in various minor
uses of electric energy. So arose the problem of transmit-
ting energy by high-potential alternating current and con-
verting it for use into low-potential direct current. This
situation faced Westinghouse and his engineers, to com-

130

THE ROTARY CONVERTER 131

plicate the negotiations and designs for the hydroelectric
project at Niagara Falls.

The consideration of the Niagara project by Westing-
house began in 1890. The serious and active consideration
at East Pittsburgh of alternating-current-direct-current con-
verters, to change alternating current into direct current,
began a little earlier. This was pioneer work. It was the
beginning of a course of research, invention, design, and
manufacture which has had, and still has, great effect on
the use of electric power in transportation, manufacture,
and the arts. The motor-generator was already known and
used to convert alternating current to direct current; but
the rotary converter promised greater economy and effi-
ciency, and that promise gave direction to the development
at the Westinghouse Works. The successful demonstration
of a rotary converter made at the works, before the en-
gineers of the Niagara commission, was an important in-
fluence in the decision to adopt alternating current at
Niagara. That decision fixed the direction of electrical
development for all time. It was a landmark hi the his-
tory of the manufacture of power.

The conception of the rotary converter, so timely in its
coming and of such continuing value, seems to have entered
the minds of several people at about the same time, as gen-
erally happens in inventions. A rotary converter was shown
by Siemens & Halske at the Frankfort Exposition in 1891.
We do not know when the studies for that machine began.
In May 1887 Mr. Charles S. Bradley filed an application
for a United States patent on a rotary converter and in
October 1888, a patent was issued to him. In the late
eighties, Mr. B. G. Lamme, of the Westinghouse Electric
Company (now Chief Engineer), began studies in the same
field and in course of time he worked out design specificar

132 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

tions for an operative apparatus. Until he encountered
Bradley in the Patent Office he believed that he had made
a new invention. He has been more persistent and resource-
ful than any other man in the development of the rotary
converter, and in the Westinghouse shops it first became a
real working element in the structure of the art. A 375-
kilowatt rotary was shown in the Westinghouse exhibit at
the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, and when we come to
read of the first hydroelectric plant at Niagara Falls we
shall see the place that it had in that tremendous historical
enterprise. We may apply here Carnot's rule: "The honor
of a discovery belongs to the nation in which it has acquired
its growth and all its development." The same may be
applied in distributing honors amongst men as well as na-
tions.

In a few years after the rotary was first put on the mar-
ket as a commercial machine it had practically driven the
large direct-current generators out of business. The first
rotary converters were put in service about 1894. By 1899
electrification of the Manhattan Elevated Railway in New
York was decided upon, with one huge alternating-current-
generator station and with twenty-six 1500-kilowatt ro-
tary converters, in a large number of substations, for sup-
plying direct current for operation of the cars. This one
contract for converting machinery was larger than any
single contract for direct-current generator machinery that
had yet been undertaken, showing that, even at this early
date, the alternating-current generating system combined
with the rotary converters had already forged ahead of the
direct-current generating system for railway work. The
same held true for many of the large three-wire Edison sys-
tems, where the handicap of transmission at 220 volts for
supply was felt very early, and the advent of the rotary con-

THE ROTARY CONVERTER 133

verier permitted generation and transmission by high-volt-
age alternating current, and thus allowed great extensions
of the three-wire system by means of suitable distributing
substations with rotary converters. All this means that
within a period of, say, five years the source of direct current,
for large plants in particular, had shifted from direct-current
generation at low voltage to alternating-current generation
at comparatively high voltage, with transmission at high
voltage and with conversion, by means of the rotary con-
verter, to any desired direct-current voltage at any desired
place. Surely this was revolutionary.

It does not appear that Westinghouse had much personal
part in the early studies of the converter. Mr. Lamme
says: "Strangely enough, it appeared to me that Mr. West-
inghouse never took any strong interest in the rotary con-
verter as affording a means for extending the field of direct-
current traction, and yet this has been possibly the greatest
single step in overcoming the early limitations of the 600-
volt system. He did not ask me many questions regard-
ing rotary-converter development and operation, as he did
with other developments. He seemed quite pleased with
the success of the rotary and its rapid growth after it had
passed through its earlier experimental stages." Perhaps
he took it as a matter of course, as an inevitable step. Per-
haps he was satisfied that it was in competent hands. Per-
haps there was a small and passing dark spot in his imag-
ination just here. Or perhaps it was something of all three.
For present purposes the essential things are that the com-
ing of the rotary converter was an opportune event in the
course of the growth of the universal power system, the
conception of which was steadily forming in Westinghouse's
mind; and this event took place within the organization
which he had built up.

CHAPTER VII
THE CHICAGO WORLD'S FAIR

THE Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893 was an
interesting incident in the life of George Westinghouse and
in the history of the Westinghouse Electric Company, and
there were picturesque, not to say dramatic, situations,
which brought out daring and resource. A certain shrewd
university president said that we must think of arctic ex-
ploration as a high form of sport. There was some high
sport in this World's Fair adventure.

On May 23, 1892, the Westinghouse Company took the
lighting contract at a price much below the bid made on
behalf of the Edison General Electric Company, its only
serious competitor. The story is that the saving to the
Exposition Company was something like $1,000,000, which
may well have been, as the unit prices were about as one
to three. The Edison General Electric Company counted
on its strong patent situation, and Westinghouse set high
value on the advertising element. His company lost money
directly, but its technical success had a great effect on the
Niagara Falls contract then pending, and on the whole
struggle between direct current and alternating current,
and it is hard to exaggerate the world importance of that
struggle.

This exposition was one of the famous world's fairs, in
the supreme beauty of buildings and grounds, in the num-
ber and variety of exhibits drawn from all the world, and
in the number of visitors. Never before had so much arti-

134

THE WORLD'S FAIR CONTRACT 135

ficial light been produced in one place, and it was beauti-
fully used to emphasize architectural effects. It was a stra-
tegic opportunity which Westinghouse and his engineers
seized and used. The lighting was only a part of their ex-
hibit. The new machinery, apparatus, and methods were
more impressive to the scientific visitor than the picturesque
effects. The appeal to the scientific imagination was power-
ful; the demonstration was complete to those who knew
enough to understand it.

It had not been easy to get this contract, notwithstand-
ing the great difference in the bids. The patent situation
was dangerous, and when bids were first invited Westing-
house refused to submit one. Finally, he became interested
in a bid which the Exposition Committee on Grounds and
Buildings had refused to consider, as the bidder was ob-^
viously not in a position to carry it out. With a rejected
bid as a basis and with an obviously strong patent in the
way, he began negotiations rather heavily handicapped.
His frank and genial manner, no less than his ingenious
arguments, gradually won the committee; but before that
he had won over the Chicago newspapers, which became
insistent that Westinghouse should have consideration. The
upshot was that new bids were asked for and the West-
inghouse Company got the contract.

The patent situation in which the Edison General Elec-
tric Company had well-grounded confidence may be ex-
plained in a few words. Suit was brought on an Edison
patent. The first claim was very broad, for the combination
of a carbon filament with an exhausted glass globe. This
claim was not sustained by the court.

The second claim was narrower, for a globe "made en-
tirely of glass." The context of the specification showed
this to mean a globe made in one piece with the glass fused

136 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

on to the leading-in wires. This is the type of lamp now
in universal use. It is as familiar to us as was the tallow
candle to our grandfathers. It was one of Mr. Edison's
most fortunate inventions. The court sustained this claim
and refused to require the Edison Company to license the
Westinghouse Company or to sell lamps to them. Pro-
ceedings were begun to get an injunction which would re-
strain the Westinghouse Company from making a lamp
which was in course of development. The story goes that
one evening in New York, Westinghouse and Mr. Terry, of
the legal department of the Electric Company, took an up-
town train on the Elevated Railway and found themselves
seated by Mr. Lowrey, chief counsel of the Edison Com-
pany. In course of casual talk Lowrey said that Mr. Fish,
also of counsel for Edison, had gone to Pittsburgh. West-
inghouse and Terry soon left the train, and when they were
out of hearing Westinghouse said: "What's Fish gone to
Pittsburgh for?" The immediate result was that Terry
hunted up Curtis (another of the Westinghouse patent at-
torneys) at his home in the suburbs; Curtis wired Christy
in Pittsburgh, and the next morning when Fish entered
the court room he found Christy seated there. The further
result was that the Edison Company's application for a
restraining order was denied.

Nevertheless, matters were critical, not to say dangerous.
The Westinghouse Company was committed to the con-
tract for lighting the Chicago World's Fair. It had already
equipped many plants which must have lamps for renewals.
Unless a non-infringing lamp could be furnished, the com-
pany could sell no more incandescent-lighting material.
The need for such a lamp was immediate and urgent.

The events here related took place in 1892. In 1888 the
Westinghouse Company had come into possession of a Saw-

THE STOPPER LAMP 137

yer-Man lamp patent, for which application had been filed
in 1880 — a good patent so far as it went. As early as 1891,
perhaps earlier, the Westinghouse engineers were working
on a two-piece Sawyer-Man lamp — that is, a lamp in which
the part holding the wires was put in the globe and the
opening was sealed as the air in the globe was exhausted.
This was the lamp which by the ruling of the court did not
infringe the Edison patent. Just when the seal was changed
to a glass stopper ground in, it is impossible to say, but
some time before the World's Fair contract was a matter
of negotiation Westinghouse was pushing work on a two-
piece lamp as a precaution. Thus originated the famous
Westinghouse "stopper-lamp," a kind of lamp which other
men had tried to make and failed. It was not at all clear
that it could be made to hold a high vacuum for long, and
as things turned out, it could not, and the World's Fair
lamps had to be often renewed. But the emergency lamp
was good enough to light the World's Fair and to supply
other needs until the Edison patent expired.

It was not enough to have designed an emergency lamp.
It is usually a long way from design to large-scale manu-
facture. Details must be designed and experimented with.
Small tools must be made. In this case facilities must be
created to produce within a very few months 250,000 lamps
for the Fair and to supply a reliable stream of replacements
for that and for other lighting plants. Westinghouse organ-
ized a glass factory to make the bulbs. He designed and
made apparatus to grind in the stoppers and an air pump
to exhaust the bulbs. It was a quick job, but the opening
of the Fair on May 1 following was not delayed an hour.
In this emergency Westinghouse was well served by his
patent lawyers and his engineers. Particularly should be
mentioned the late Mr. Thomas B. Kerr, for many years

138 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

an aole and faithful adviser in patent matters, and Mr.
Leonard E. Curtis, who practised for years in electrical
patents and so helped to advance the art. Amongst the
several excellent engineers who took part in this lamp de-
velopment, one name stands out conspicuously, that of
Frank Stuart Smith, then in charge of the incandescent-
lamp department. His zeal, industry, and ingenuity were
highly appreciated by Westinghouse. But it was essen-
tially one man's job, and it was perhaps the most audacious
of the many daring enterprises of Westinghouse. He won
by those qualities which we often think would have made
him a brilliant general if fate had turned his lot that way.

But this spectacular lamp episode, interesting and use-
ful to the student of George Westinghouse, was, after all,
only an episode. In itself it had no lasting consequences.
The historical element in the Westinghouse participation
in this Chicago World's Fair was hidden away in the ma-
chinery; hidden away from all but a few seeing eyes. They
could see there the faint dawn of a new era; that is, they
could see it if they had enough knowledge and imagination.
Here was taken one of the first long steps in the use of the
alternating current, to be followed shortly by Niagara, of
which we shall speak presently.

The generating plant for the World's Fair lighting was
the largest alternating-current central station then in exist-
ence. There were 12 generators, each of 1000 horsepower,
each unit was two 500-horsepower alternators. These
were single phase, with toothed, rotating armatures, and
were placed side by side, with separate fields. The field-
poles were in line with each other, but the two armatures
were displaced half one-tooth pitch from each other. There-
fore each unit consisted of two single-phase rotating-arma-
ture generators, but with the two circuits 90 degrees out

EXHIBITS AT THE WORLD'S FAIR 139

of phase. Westinghouse proposed this scheme in order to
be able to supply two-phase current. These machines were
200 revolution, 36 pole, 7200 alternations (60 cycles). The
nominal voltage was 2200. The rotating armature, toothed-
armature construction and 60 cycles were both old features,
but the displacement of the armature to give two phase
was a new feature, and in fact these were the first large
polyphase generators built and installed in this country.
Furthermore, these were the largest alternators either single
phase or polyphase that had been built up to that time in
America. Ganz & Company, at Budapesth, had built 1000-
horsepower alternators, single phase. The General Elec-
tric Company showed at the Fair a 1500-kilowatt direct-
current generator, and the Westinghouse Company was
building 1500-horsepower direct-current machines.

Quite apart from the lighting plant, the Westinghouse
Company showed at the World's Fair a complete polyphase
system. A large two-phase induction motor, driven by cur-
rent from the main generators, acted as the prime mover
in driving the exhibit. The exhibit, then, contained a
polyphase generator with transformers for raising the volt-
age for transmission; a short transmission line; transform-
ers for lowering the voltage; the operation of induction
motors; a synchronous motor; and a rotary converter which
supplied direct current, which in turn operated a railway
motor. In connection with the exhibit were meters and
other auxiliary devices of various kinds. The apparatus
was in units of fair commercial size and gave to the public
a view of a universal power system in which, by polyphase
current, power could be transmitted great distances, and
then be utilized for various purposes, including the supply
of direct current. It showed on a working scale a system
upon which Westinghouse and his company had been con-

140 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

cent/rating their efforts; namely, the alternating-current
and polyphase system.

It has been maintained with some plausibility that the
most important outcome of the Centennial Exposition of
1876 was that the people of the United States there dis-
covered bread. So it may be maintained; with even more
plausibility, that the best result of the Columbian Exposi-
tion of 1893 was that it removed the last serious doubt of
the usefulness to mankind of the polyphase alternating
current. The conclusive demonstration at Niagara was
yet to be made, but the World's Fair clinched the fact that
it would be made, and so it marked an epoch in industrial
history. Very few of those who looked at this machinery,
who gazed with admiration at the great switchboard, so
ingenious and complete, and who saw the beautiful light-
ing effects could have realized that they were living in an
historical moment, that they were looking at the begin-
nings of a revolution.

CHAPTER VIII
NIAGARA FALLS

LATE in the eighties a local project for the development
of power at Niagara Falls began to take definite shape, but
the necessary money could not be raised locally and the
enterprise soon went to New York and was taken up by a
group, amongst whom were Mr. D. 0. Mills, Mr. John Jacob
Astor, Mr. Edward D. Adams, Mr. Francis Lynde Stetson,
and Mr. Edward A. Wickes. The Cataract Construction
Company was created and Mr. Adams became its President.
Doctor Coleman Sellers, of Philadelphia, was appointed
Chief Engineer. In 1889 Mr. Adams and Doctor Sellers
went to Europe to observe hydraulic developments and
methods of transmitting power. There as well as at home
they made a broad study of methods of power development
and utilization that might be adapted to the Niagara situa-
tion, calling to their aid some of the most eminent physicists
and engineers.

Westinghouse had sent one of his young engineers, Mr.
Lewis B. Stillwell, to England that autumn to help in the
start of the British Westinghouse Electric Company and
to inform himself on the state of the electric art, particularly
the progress in generating and distributing alternating cur-
rent there and on the Continent. In November, Mr. Still-
well and Mr. Reginald Belfield, electrician of the British
Westinghouse Company, were asked to meet Mr. Adams
and Doctor Sellers and to give their views on the Niagara
power problem, as representing the Westinghouse interests.

141

142 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOTJSE

This was the beginning of the relations of Westinghouse
with the Niagara development.

In 1890 the Cataract Construction Company appointed
an International Niagara Commission to consider projects
and designs for the utilization of power from the falls. The
members of the commission were Sir William Thomson
(afterward Lord Kelvin), President, Doctor Coleman Sel-
lers, M. E. Mascart, Colonel Theodore Turretini, and Pro-
fessor W. C. Unwin, Secretary. It seems almost super-
fluous to say more about those gentlemen. Lord Kelvin
was not only one of the most famous physicists in the world
but an engineer of varied and eminent practical achieve-
ment. Doctor Sellers, long associated as engineer and in-
ventor with the well-known firm of William Sellers & Com-
pany, of Philadelphia, was also professor of engineering
practice at Stevens Institute and professor of mechanics
at the Franklin Institute. M. Mascart was member of
the Institute of Paris and professor at the College of France.
Colonel Turretini was President of the city of Geneva,
Director of Works for the Utilization of the Rhone, etc.
Professor William Cawthorne Unwin, of London, was a
distinguished physicist, scholar, and author. The reader
of this volume will not fail to recognize the high authority
of these names. The officers of the Cataract Construc-
tion Company were wise in handling an enterprise so great
in cost and so vast in its consequences in a way to bring
to their service the ability and experience of so distin-
guished a group of scientists and engineers.

Projects were invited for a central hydraulic power sta-
tion to be located above the Falls and to develop as much
power as the section of the discharge tunnel (490 square
feet), the head of water, and the hydraulic slope would per-
mit, and for the transmission and distribution of this power

NIAGARA FALLS PRELIMINARIES 143

overhead or underground by electricity, compressed air,
water, cable, or other means, to a manufacturing district
to be built up within a radius of four miles, and to the city
of Buffalo, distant about twenty miles.

At this time Mr Stillwell was again in London, and the
British Westinghouse Company was amongst those asked
to submit plans. The broad possibilities of alternating-
current transmission had been realized by Westinghouse
and his staff from the time of the purchase of the Gaulard
and Gibbs patents in 1885, and much work had been done
at Pittsburgh toward producing practicable methods and
apparatus. The enthusiastic young men in London were
eager to have the company enter into the competition and
submit plans, and wrote and cabled to Westinghouse. He
refused permission. He evidently felt that the project was
still much in the air and that his company would not be
justified at that time in disclosing comprehensively the
results of its studies and the knowledge gained at great
cost. Mr. Stillwell says: "My disappointment was great,
but I came to realize the reasonableness of Mr. Westing-
house's view."

More than three years passed before the first order for
machinery for Niagara was placed with the Westinghouse
Company and meantime important things happened. Those
were epoch-making years in the electric art, which means that
they were epoch-making years in industrial history. Dur-
ing those years the Cataract Construction Company, upon
the advice of the International Niagara Commission, ar-
rived at two decisions of far-reaching importance; namely,
that the power should be developed in a single large power
plant and that electricity should be used for its transmis-
sion and distribution. When these decisions were made,
the question whether alternating current or direct current

144 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

should be used was left open, but after further study and
investigation by the Commission, it was decided to adopt
the alternating-current system. Unquestionably the de-
cision of the Cataract Company to use alternating current
influenced greatly the rapidity and direction of electrical
development throughout the world. Professor George
Forbes, of Glasgow, was amongst those who had appeared
before the Commission as advocates of alternating current,
and subsequently he was appointed Consulting Electrical
Engineer to the Cataract Construction Company.

At Pittsburgh for about two years, beginning in 1890,
the development of the polyphase alternating-current sys-
tem was considerably retarded by financial difficulties in
which the Westinghouse Company became involved through
lack of adequate capital, but nevertheless research, design,
experiment, and construction of alternating-current ap-
paratus went on. The electrical engineers of those days
were all young, surprisingly young, but they were creating
a new science and a new art, the laws were unknown and
the language was new, and older engineers shrank from the
task of learning the laws and language. Westinghouse,
however, had the gift of youth. None of his young en-
gineers surpassed him in eager enthusiasm. None ap-
proached him in imagination. They brought to the work
greater knowledge of physics and mathematics than he
had, but he supplied the steady flame. He supplied, too,
courage, persistence, coordination, and driving power, and
he brought into the new art fertile invention and unparal-
leled mechanical experience and skill.

At a fortunate moment in -1890 a group of these young
engineers, and especially Stillwell, Shallenberger, and Scott,
persuaded him to authorize a contract for a hydroelectric
plant at Telluride, Colorado. It was a small plant, only

THE TELLURIDE LESSONS 145

100 horsepower, but it served a large purpose. The plant
comprised a single-phase generator driven by water power
and a single-phase alternating-current motor started by
a small "split-phase" induction motor. The generator
and motor were wound for 3000 volts, and this was the
line potential adopted. The transmission distance was
only about three miles, but the amount of copper required
for the circuit was extremely little as compared with the
direct-current plant proposed by Mr. Edison, whose com-
pany also had been invited to bid on the project. The in-
stallation was a decided success in commercial and engineer-
ing results, and these results had a distinct influence upon
alternating-current development and in deciding the sys-
tem of generation and transmission adopted for Niagara.

The Telluride results had also a certain specific and in-
teresting effect on the thought of Westinghouse. In his
early conferences with the Cataract Construction Company
he was much inclined to think that power could be best
transmitted to Buffalo by pneumatic means. This is quite
understandable. For twenty years he had been carrying
power by compressed air. Neither he nor any one else knew
much about electrical transmission. But his education was
quick and complete. The success of the Telluride plant and
the progress at Pittsburgh in the autumn of 1892, particu-
larly in the development of the rotary converter and of
two-phase motors, definitely changed his mind.

But Westinghouse had not been alone in considering
compressed-air transmission. It was amongst the means
mentioned in the call for projects, and, besides the tenta-
tive suggestion of Westinghouse, five definite plans were
submitted. In the list of projects received by the Commis-
sion is one from Professor Reidler, of Berlin, and M. Victor
Popp, of Paris, employing air compressors "studied chiefly

146 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

with respect to transmission of power to Buffalo." Others
were from Mr. H. D. Pearsall, of Orpington, England, using
air compressed to 150 pounds per square inch; Professor
Lupton, of Leeds, and Mr. Sturgeon, of Chester, England,
" hydraulic motors and compressed-air plant to utilize
125,000 horsepower"; Messrs. Escher, Wyss & Company,
of Zurich, "a compressed-air plant for part of the power";
and from the Norwalk Iron Works Company, South Nor-
walk, Conn. When the Commission, in the spring of 1891,
awarded its premium for projects worthy of further con-
sideration (Westinghouse did not compete), four of those
in Class A were for compressed-air transmission. The Com-
mission reported generally in favor of electrical distribution
with perhaps a partial use of compressed air as an auxiliary
method.

It should be particularly noted that the Commission then
expressed a preference for distribution by direct current.
This opinion governed ' some time longer. Lord Kelvin,
President of the Commisdon, and without question the
greatest mind amongst them, was the last to accept alter-
nating current, which he finally did without reservation,
and in May 1893 the Board of Directors of the Cataract
Construction Company approved the adoption of alternat-
ing-current generators. This is an important date in his-
tory and an important date in the life of George Westing-
house. It was the triumphant end of a brilliant struggle.

But to go back a few months. On December 6, 1892,
rotary converters of 150 horsepower were tested at Pitts-
burgh with extremely satisfactory results, and Westing-
house notified the Cataract Construction Company that
the Electric Company was ready to submit definite plans
and proposals. The converters were tested January 10,
1893, by Doctor Sellers and Professor Rowland, of Johns

FIRST PROPOSALS FOR NIAGARA 147

Hopkins. From that time negotiations went on actively.
The officers of the Cataract Construction Company con-
tinued an intensive study of their problems, with the as-
sistance of additional expert engineers. The Westinghouse
and General Electric Companies were also active in their
preparation, and in March 1893, both companies submitted
proposals for three 5000-horsepower alternating-current gen-
erators of the vertical-shaft type to be placed in a power
house above the wheel pit and direct connected to the shafts
of turbines placed at the bottom of the wheel pit. They
submitted also plans of the systems which they proposed
for transmitting and distributing power.

The Westinghouse Company proposed to wind the genera-
tors for 2200 volts and to use this potential for distribution
of power in the immediate vicinity of the falls. For trans-
mission to Buffalo a potential of 11,000 volts was to be used
until such time as line insulators adapted to 22,000 volts
might become commercially available. The step-up trans-
formers proposed, therefore, were so wound as to deliver
either 11,000 volts or 22,000 volts.

The power was to be transmitted to Buffalo by circuits
consisting of bare copper wires carried on insulators of the
pin type. At the Buffalo end of the line, step-down trans-
formers to reduce the line potential to voltages suitable for
various local purposes were to be installed. In that same
year came Mr. Charles F. Scott's invention of his ingenious
method of converting from two-phase to three-phase cur-
rent by a special winding and grouping of transformers,
and three-phase transmission to Buffalo was thus accom-
plished, although the generators were wound for the two-
phase current.

To convert alternating into direct or continuous current
for operation of trolley lines and for electrolytic and other

148 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

purposes requiring that type of current, rotary converters
were proposed, and for the development of mechanical
power for general industrial purposes two-phase alternating-
current motors of the induction type were recommended.
It was pointed out, also, that synchronous motors could be
driven by power from the alternating-current circuits, and
that direct-current motors could be operated through the
intervention of rotary converters.

While the Westinghouse Company proposed two-phase
generators, the General Electric Company recommended
a straight three-phase system. After examination by the
engineers of the Cataract Construction Company, the ten-
ders of both manufacturing companies were declined, and
the Cataract Construction Company instructed its engi-
neers to prepare an alternative generator design.

Before referring further to either of these designs, it is
necessary to refer to the question of frequency or perio-
dicity of current.

Westinghouse was probably the first man of strong in-
fluence in electric development to realize the importance
of adopting and adhering to a standard frequency of alter-
nations. Very early he pointed out to the staff at Pitts-
burgh that a standard frequency was important in the same
sense that a standard railroad gage is important. Upon
his return from Europe in 1890, Mr. Stillwell had reported
that the Ganz Company was using a frequency as low as
forty-two cycles per second. It was obvious that the direct
connection of alternating generators to the reciprocating
engines then in general use was very difficult, if not ab-
solutely impracticable, unless a frequency much lower
than 133 cycles was adopted, and Westinghouse gave in-
structions for an investigation of the subject. Messrs.
Stillwell, Shallenberger, Schmid, and Scott were specially

STANDARD FREQUENCIES 149

charged with this study. Before the end of 1892 they
selected two frequencies as standards for the Westinghouse
Company, 30 cycles per second and 60 cycles; 60 cycles
to be used where the principal load was for lighting, and
30 cycles where a large part of the power was to be con-
verted and utilized in the form of a direct current. In pre-
paring the plans upon which the first proposal to the
Cataract Company was based, the engineers of the West-
inghouse Company found it impracticable to wind a two-
phase generator to produce 30 cycles because of the fact
that the Cataract Company already had placed its order
for hydraulic turbines to run at 250 revolutions per minute.
This fact forced them to choose between a 16-pole machine
which would produce 33>^ cycles and a 12-pole machine
which would produce 25 cycles. They selected the former,
and the first tender of the Westinghouse Company was
based on this frequency. Professor Forbes, consulting elec-
trical engineer for the Cataract Construction Company,
proposed 16 ^3 cycles (an 8-pole generator). Finally, as
a compromise, 25 cycles were adopted, and such has been
the influence of the Niagara development that this is to-
day the standard low frequency throughout the United
States. After an experience of more than a quarter of a
century, electrical engineers are practically unanimous in
their opinion that it is unfortunate that 30 cycles is not
now the standard low frequency instead of 25 cycles. The
frequency, 60 cycles, which was first adopted by the West-
inghouse Company as a result of Westinghouse's foresight,
is today the standard high frequency generally in use in
the United States.

The generator as finally adopted at Niagara was also
a compromise. The alternator proposed by the Westing-
house Company had an internal revolving armature and

150 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

an external stationary field. It was a two-phase machine
wound for 800 volts. Following the rejection of this de-
sign, the Cataract Company brought forward a design by
Professor George Forbes comprising a stationary internal
armature and external revolving field. It was wound for
20,000 volts, 2 phases, and 25 cycles. Mechanically the
general idea embodied in the design was excellent. Elec-
trically it was impracticable. One of the Westinghouse
engineers writes: "From our present knowledge of machine
design it would have been a monumental failure." It was
proposed to cool the armature-coils by forcing oil through
them. Analysis revealed that this circulation would have
required a pressure of 400 pounds per square inch, a figure
far beyond the strength of the material with which it was
proposed to enclose the coils. The insulation was inade-
quate for 20,000 volts. It was found impossible also to
design a field ring of sufficient strength for an 8-pole ma-
chine without exceeding the limit of weight fixed by the
hydraulic elements of the proposed plant. Other features
were regarded as unwise and the Westinghouse Company
finally declined to accept any responsibility for the results
if the machine were built.

In again asking for bids the Cataract Company said,
referring to the alternative generator design prepared by
its engineers, "any alterations that you may propose in
this design will be carefully considered and if acceptable
will be appreciated in placing the contract." The fixed
specifications eventually agreed upon were: alternating
current, two-phase, 25 cycles, 2200 volts at a speed of 250
revolutions per minute, 5000 electrical horsepower. Seven
manufacturers in America were asked to bid; we are not
informed how many bids were received. The resulting ten-
ders were examined by a special committee of two foreign

TAKES THE CONTRACTS FOR NIAGARA 151

engineers and two from the United States — mechanical en-
gineers as well as electrical. The result was that in October
1893, a contract was executed with the Westinghouse Com-
pany for three 5000-horsepower dynamos. The contracts
for the switchboard and auxiliaries were made in March
and October 1894. The first 5000-horsepower hydro-
electric unit was tested in April 1895, and in the autumn
of that year the commercial distribution and sale of elec-
tric power from Niagara Falls began.

It would be difficult for those whose recollection does
not go back to those days to realize the great, and wide-
spread interest aroused by this step in power develop-
ment. The first Niagara hydroelectric installation was a
brilliant engineering achievement. It was accepted gener-
ally in America and in Europe as the demonstrated solution
of the problem of developing hydraulic power for trans-
mission and distribution and its utilization for practically
every purpose to which power is applicable. Its results
have been far-reaching to an extent which even today is
not generally realized.

The Cataract Construction Company undertook and
carried to successful completion a power enterprise unpre-
cedented in magnitude at that time and unequalled then
or since when measured by its consequences. The methods
of investigation, development, and final determination of
plans employed by the officers and directors of that com-
pany were remarkable for their vision, thoroughness, and
courage. That the plans which they finally adopted after
world-wide search were in every essential those developed
by Westinghouse and his engineers is a fact which detracts
in no way from the credit due to the officers and engineer-
ing staff of the Cataract Construction Company. The alter-
nating-current transformer is the essential key to trans-

152 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

mission of power at low cost. The polyphase motor is the
essential key to the reproduction in mechanical form of
power transmitted by electricity. In the hands of West-
inghouse and his engineers, the crude transformer of Gaulard
,/" and Gibbs capable of supplying at low efficiency a few
incandescent lamps became in a few years a transformer
which could deliver thousands of horsepower at an efficiency
exceeding ninety-eight per cent, and the primitive motor
brought to America by Tesla in 1888, and loaded to its
practical limit when driving a ten-inch ventilating-fan be-
came a motor capable of delivering hundreds and even
thousands of horsepower.

Up to the time of the first Niagara generators the largest
alternators built were of 1000 horsepower. The step to
5000 horsepower was a long one involving considerable
difficulties in manufacture. Many engineers who may read
this book will remember the impression, amazing and al-
most astounding, made by these machines with their pro-
digious fields revolving at a peripheral speed of 9250 feet
per minute, a speed then considered terrific. Some of them
will remember, too, the surprise of Li Hung Chang when
the point of his umbrella caught a bolthead on the rim of
one of these fields. The old gentleman's admirable curiosity
was quite gratified for once, and by good luck the umbrella
went clear of him in its flight across the room.

In a report on this first Niagara hydroelectric plant
the Westinghouse Company said: "The switching devices,
indicating and measuring instruments, bus-bars and other
auxiliary apparatus, have been designed and constructed
on lines departing radically from our usual practice. The
conditions of the problem presented, especially as regards
the amount of power to be dealt with, have been so far be-
yond all precedent that it has been necessary to devise a

THE NIAGARA ENGINEERS 153

considerable amount of new apparatus. The general or-
ganization of the cables, switches, and measuring instru-
ments differs materially from anything of the kind hither-
to installed elsewhere. Nearly every device used differs
from what has hitherto been our standard practice. Among
novel features of importance we may mention the use of
compressed air to operate the switching devices, the con-
struction of the 5000-horsepower switches, and the con-
struction of the bus-bars."

Amongst the men at Pittsburgh who were active in the
design and development of the machines and apparatus
for Niagara were five who should be cited, to use a con-
venient war word. These were Albert Schmid, Benjamin
G. Lamme, Lewis B. Stillwell, Charles F. Scott, and Oliver
B. Shallenberger.

Schmid, a Swiss engineer, was in the Westinghouse ser-
vice many years in America and in France. He died in
New York, December 31, 1919, in his sixty-third year. He
was a mechanical engineer and designer of remarkable gifts.
He had a fine sense of form and proportion as well as a
keen mechanical faculty. The influence of his designs is
still seen in various classes of electrical machinery. At the
time of the Niagara development he was General Super-
intendent of the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing
Company. As an engineer he was largely responsible for
the mechanical designs, and as superintendent he was re-
sponsible for the construction of the machines.

Lamme entered the Westinghouse service in 1888 direct
from college, and has been there ever since, being now Chief
Engineer. He has made a broader mark in the whole line
of Westinghouse electrical machinery than any other man.
Under Schmid he had an important part in designing the
electrical features of the Niagara generators.

154 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

Stillwell entered the service in October 1886, also direct
from college. He probably had a broader knowledge of
alternating-current development in its early years than
any other one of Westinghouse's young men. He was active
in the Niagara enterprise from its start, had general super-
vision of that work at Pittsburgh in the period of design
and construction, and was field engineer at Niagara Falls
in charge of installation and first operation as Electrical
Engineer and Assistant Manager of the Westinghouse Com-
pany. In January 1897, he was elected Electrical Director
of the Niagara Falls Power Company and the Cataract
Company in charge of the construction and operation.

Scott and Shallenberger were very active in research,
experiment, and design of details. They also were recently
out of college, Shallenberger from the Naval Academy.
Their names are part of the annals of the Westinghouse
Company. Shallenberger died in 1898, and Scott has been
for some years Professor of Electrical Engineering at Yale.

Such, briefly and inadequately told, is the story of the
first great hydroelectric plant at Niagara Falls. It pro-
duced 15,000 horsepower by three generators. The orig-
inal plant was soon increased by the addition of eight similar
units. The three 5000-horsepower units first installed are
still in commercial use. They have been operating day
and night practically without interruption since 1895. That
they were scientifically designed and carefully constructed is
evidenced by the fact that the cost of maintaining them dur-
ing these years has been less than one per cent per annum.
The present generator capacity of the three power houses
constructed by the original Niagara Falls Power Company,
two on the American side and one on the Canadian side,
is 228,000 horsepower. Five of the later generators are
12,500 horsepower, and there are five of 10,000 horsepower.

SOME RESULTS OF NIAGARA 155

Of course there has been no change from alternating
current, and the frequency of 25 cycles is still used through-
out. On the American side the original generated potential
of 2200 volts is maintained, with two-phase current. On
the Canadian side the potential is 12,000 volts, three phase.
The tendency has been to change from the external re-
volving field to the less-expensive internal revolving field,
and now more than sixty-one per cent of the installed ca-
pacity is of the internal-field type.

When the original power plant of the Niagara Falls Com-
pany had demonstrated its technical and commercial suc-
cess, other power companies began the development of large
plants, and today the aggregate output capacity installed
at Niagara is approximately 500,000 horsepower. The
latest unit installed is of 37,500 horsepower, and turbines
and generators of still greater output are now in course of
construction. It goes without saying that experience on
such a scale for twenty-five years has had its effect on hy-
draulic engineering, as well as on electric. When the Cata-
ract Construction Company decided to adopt 5000-horse-
power turbines under a head of 140 feet, the largest hydrau-
lic turbine used in America was about 500 horsepower, and
few, if any, larger were used abroad. The greatest head
under which turbines were used in America was about forty
feet, and although much greater heads were used in France
and Switzerland, the units were comparatively small in
size. The engineers of the Power Company, among whom
the late Doctor Coleman Sellers, of Philadelphia, a lifelong
friend of Westinghouse, was chief, deserved no less credit
for their courage and skill in dealing with the great hydraulic
problem which they faced than for their vision and judg-
ment hi selecting the electric system best adapted to meet
its requirements.

156 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

This splendid enterprise so beneficent in its effect is not
a monument to engineers alone. Those who risked their
money and reputation in it had courage, enterprise, and
imagination. Their work at Niagara is a wonderful illus-
tration of public benefit resulting from private initiative.
They were patient in procedure and wise in method. They
share the glory with the scientists who revealed the un-
derlying principles and the engineers who developed the
methods and machinery.

It has been said above that the outcome at Niagara
settled for all time the question as between alternating
current and direct current. It also had a tremendous in-
fluence in interesting capital for power development, at
home and abroad. It was a conspicuous example of the
practicability of developing cheap power in large central
stations and distributing it for manufacturing, lighting, and
transportation. One of the earliest examples of long dis-
tance transmission was the Niagara, Lockport and On-
tario Power Company which soon came into being and to
which Westinghouse gave financial support. . This com-
pany carried electric power eastward 195 miles and west-
ward some 95 miles, serving several cities and towns. The
Niagara enterprise hastened forward the epoch of manu-
factured power. Of this more is said in another place. It
remains to say a word about certain special effects.

The largest group of electrochemical workers in the world
is at Niagara Falls, and the development of Niagara power
was the beginning of the electric-furnace art as a factor in
industrial processes. The commercial development of alumi-
num was made possible by Niagara power, and for years
Niagara Falls was the only seat of the aluminum industry in
America. The artificial abrasive industry on a commercial

ELECTROCHEMICAL RESULTS 157

scale started at Niagara,, and in 1914, sixty-two per cent
of the total abrasives used in the United States were arti-
ficial. When the Great War came, importation of emery
from Turkey and Greece ceased. How crippled the great
metal-working industries of the United States would have
been without Niagara carborundum and alundum may be
imagined. The total production of ferrosilicon in the United
States was, two or three years ago, perhaps still is, at Ni-
agara, and that which we imported came mostly from Ca-
nadian works at Niagara. More than half of the ferro-
chromium consumed here is produced in electric furnaces
at Niagara Falls. Ferrochromium is an essential element
in the manufacture of armor plate and armor-piercing pro-
jectiles, and shell-steel specifications require a percentage of
silicon. Ferrosilicon is used in making a great part of our
steel production. The production of alloys of tungsten,
vanadium, molybdenum, and ferrotitanium depends more
or less directly and largely on the electric furnaces of
Niagara. All the artificial graphite used in this country
and a large proportion of all that is used in the world is
produced at Niagara Falls, which is the center also of our
chlorine industry with its many variations, and of an im-
portant production of phosphorus. All these essential in-
dustries so fundamental in our material development and
so vitally affecting our civilization have grown up there as
a result of the development and sale of cheap electric power
at Niagara.

Not long ago a group of enthusiastic chemical and metal-
lurgical engineers displayed at an automobile show in New
York the legend "Niagara Falls made Detroit possible."
It was not a geological matter but industrial. The line of
development shown was water power, cheap electric cur-

158 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

rent, electric furnaces, alloy steels, tool steel, cheaper manu-
facture, cheaper automobiles, Detroit. They did not say
that Niagara Falls made possible our effective part in the
Great War. They must have been tempted, but they knew
the "eloquence of understatement. "

CHAPTER IX
ELECTRIC TRACTION

WESTINGHOUSE was not the first man to try to haul cars
by electricity, or the first to suggest it. Far from it. David-
son, a Scotchman, tried an electromagnetic locomotive in
1837, and Doctor Werner Siemens actually worked a half-
mile of railroad, of two-foot gage, by electricity, at the
Berlin Exhibition in 1879. In 1881 he built an electric tram-
way of one and one-half miles at Lichterfelde, which he fol-
lowed in the next two years with short mining roads taking
current from overhead conductors. In 1883 a tramway,
six miles long, was built between Portrush and Bushmills
in the north of Ireland.

But electric traction has had its greatest development
in the United States. Edison made experiments with an
electric locomotive at least as far back as 1880, and Stephen
D. Field was experimenting about the same time. In the
next few years half a dozen men, whose names became well
known and even famous, worked in this field. Of the kind
of trolley road now common all over the world the first to
be built and worked in a commercial way was the Union
Passenger Railway in Richmond, Va. This was designed
and built by Frank J. Sprague, who organized a little com-
pany which took the contract to build the road in May
1887. About the same time Bentley and Knight built a
short line in Allegheny City, Pa. Sprague was a graduate
of the United States Naval Academy, and resigned from
the navy to devote himself to the electrical art, in which
he has made a successful and distinguished career. He was

159

160 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

one of a remarkable group of young graduates who greatly
influenced the philosophical and practical development of
electrical science and art in the last quarter of the nine-
teenth century, and most of whom are still active. The
careers that they have made are good proof of the ad-
vanced and sound teaching in electricity at the Naval
Academy.

Westinghouse was a little later in the field; but under his
guidance and stimulus the Westinghouse Electric & Manu-
facturing Company quickly became a leader, and rapidly
developed types and systems which have had a command-
ing influence on electric traction. In 1888 or 1889 experi-
ments were made with a Tesla motor with a view to using
alternating current for railway working. From the very
beginning of his efforts in traction Westinghouse had in
mind alternating current, and he never gave up that thought
until he died. We are writing at the moment particularly
of the kind of electric traction which has been developed
in street-railway working and cross-country trolley roads,
but from some indeterminate but early time he began to
look forward to the general use of electricity on railroads.
Writing in 1910 he says: "Believing unreservedly that the
increased capacity of a railway and its stations, the econo-
mies of operation, and other advantages will bring about
gradually the systematic electrification of steam railways,
my wish is that the progress of the art may not be ham-
pered and such electrification of our main lines delayed or
rendered unprofitable by mistakes which experience, judg-
ment, and foresight may enable us to avoid. It is my in-
tention in this paper to direct attention to the necessity
for the very early selection of a comprehensive electrical
system embracing fundamental standards of construction/7
Events have justified him; but the first traction experiment

GOES INTO STREET RAILWAYS 161

with the Tesla motor failed, and was bound to, for the char-
acteristics of the induction motor were not yet suitable for
traction.

Westinghouse had to be content a while with direct-cur-
rent working. In the falTpf 1889 he told Albert Schmid
that he was going into the street-railway business, and in-
structed Schmid to get ready for it. Schmid directed Lamme
to make a study of existing systems. A general scheme was
laid out and a double-reduction-gear motor was designed
and built, and soon became known as a powerful motor.
The design of auxiliary apparatus was limited by patents,
but a complete system was quickly evolved which was satis-
factory for the time and let Westinghouse into the field.
The three principal competitors were Sprague, Thomson-
Houston, and Short, all active and competent. The only
real advantage of the Westinghouse system was the en-
closed gear, one of Schmid's improvements, which was a
distinct step forward and a great selling point.

Manufacturers and engineers soon recognized that the
double-reduction gear was unsatisfactory, partly in undue
exposure to the weather and partly in complication, and
several companies began designs of single-reduction gear
motors independently and simultaneously. In 1890 the
Westinghouse Company brought out a single-reduction-gear
motor which proved revolutionary, and eventually drove
all other types out of the market, and (modified and im-
proved) is used to this day. It is the only one produced at
that time which has persisted in type. It was the progenitor
of the present direct-current railway motor, and the whole
world has come to this type.

This new motor precipitated a serious commercial situa-
tion. It came so suddenly and its use spread so fast that
the several companies, Westinghouse amongst them, had

162 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

to scrap large stocks of double-reduction-gear motors. This
was a situation which Westinghouse rather enjoyed, for
progress was always a good deal more interesting to him
than profit. He would have said that progress is profit;
which is true in the long run, but it is sometimes a little
difficult to finance that view of life and business. One of
his old associates says that Westinghouse was a thirty-day
man. The profits of the new idea or the new enterprise
would begin to appear in about thirty days. This tem-
perament had much to do with the various embarrassments
in his affairs, and it was a powerful element in his prodigious
successes.

In the early days of electric traction, while people were
feeling around for methods and apparatus, the matter of
feeding current to the motors was the subject of much in-
vention and experiment. At first current was taken from
a third rail and returned through the running rails, or the
two track rails were used as outgoing and return conduc-
tors respectively. Westinghouse made very early experi-
ments of this kind. One who saw some of these trials writes :
"I recall that they used to lead one of the old horses across
the track to see whether he would jump if he chanced to
get a front foot on one rail and a hind foot on the other while
the rails were charged." We may doubt if the phrase "they
used to" is precise. It implies a fixed habit.

Before the time of which we are now writing high feeling
had been created about the relative dangers of alternating
and direct current. Controversy raged in the public prints.
Westinghouse and Edison saw each other burning and
killing their innocent fellow citizens, but it is entirely fair
to say that on the part of Westinghouse this fight was de-
fensive. It began with the short-sighted but determined
effort to head off the alternating current, which with him

COLLECTING CURRENT 163

was a prime article of faith. Naturally, the controversy
affected in some degree all schemes for supplying current
to car motors. Perhaps the real feeling in the Westing-
house group was expressed by Walter C. Kerr, a man of
much ability and famous for fluent and abundant talk.
In one of the conferences Kerr sat silent, to the surprise of
his comrades. At last one of them said: "Walter, what's
the matter; why don't you say something?" Kerr an-
swered: " There are so many greater dangers in railroading,
and dangers so very much more likely to happen, that this
matter seems to me a good deal exaggerated." Neverthe-
less, reasonable attention must be paid to public feeling
and reasonable precautions must be taken against possible
dangers.

Serious and somewhat costly experiments were carried
on with a so-called "button" system which had attractive
features. Contact shoes under the car took current from
plates placed at intervals along the track and energized
automatically only when the car was over them. Contact
was by buttons, hence the name.

Various other ways of taking current were devised and
tried, but all yielded to the Vanderpoel underrunning trol-
ley now in universal use. The General Electric Company
bought the Vanderpoel patent and brought suit against
the Westinghouse Company. It was one of the celebrated
cases in the story of electricity. It went against the West-
inghouse Company. The counsel for the company, with
great disappointment, and some apprehension, told West-
inghouse the decision. He said: "That's good; now there is
a basis for a trade. They want our Tesla patents and we
want their trolley patent." In March 1896, a general ex-
change of licenses was effected covering essentially the en-
tire field of operations of the two companies, other than

164 A LIFE OP GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

incandescent electric lamps. The arrangement was set
forth in a carefully considered agreement pursuant to which
was established the Board of Patent Control, of which more
will be said in another place.

The Westinghouse Company has continued strong, ac-
tive, and progressive in direct-current street-railway work,
but Westinghouse never slept on the idea of using alternat-
ing current for heavy traction. Development of apparatus
was pushed steadily forward, slowly it long seemed, but
never ceasing.

Before going into this matter with some account of spe-
cific things done, it is well to say a few words about the
state of the art when Westinghouse took up the systematic
production and development of heavy-traffic methods and
machinery. The standard practice then was the use of
direct current, generated and distributed at 550 to 600 volts.
To supply large quantities of power over considerable dis-
tances necessitated power-generating stations at frequent
intervals and the subdivision of the supply system into
small generating units. The result must be high cost of
generation and distribution. The reasons for this are made
plain in the introductory passages of the general chapter on
electricity.

A further serious difficulty existed and even yet is not
entirely cleared away. That is the difficulty of collecting
large quantities of current at low voltage from the conduc-
tor delivering it to the locomotive or the motor on a car.
Confronted by these hard and fast conditions the electri-
fication of railroads of heavy traffic was at a standstill.
Those who knew the elements of the situation saw little
promise of electrification on a large scale. Great projects
were brought forward, discussed, analyzed, and abandoned
because of their cost and the technical difficulties in the

HEAVY ELECTRIFICATION BEGINS 165

way. The situation was like that of the railroads just be-
fore Bessemer made the steel rail possible.

Then came the rotary converter. The story of the origin,
natures and functions of this important machine is told else-
where in this book. Alternating current in any necessary
quantity can be carried long distances (in present practice
two hundred and fifty miles and more) at high potential
and delivered to the converter at substations. There it is
converted to direct current and carried short distances,
at low voltage, to the place of use. Thus the cost of gen-
erating and distributing is brought down to commercial
limits and the first difficulty has disappeared.

The problem of collecting and handling low-voltage cur-
rent in large quantities remained. The third rail partly
met this. The rail laid alongside the running rails carries
the current from the substation, and it is collected by a
shoe, hanging from the locomotive or car. The arrangement
is simple and strong and well adapted to maintain the neces-
sary close adjustment of conductor and collector.

The rotary converter and third rail gave a quick and
strong impulse to heavy electrification, but high cost limited
it to situations of very heavy traffic, such as elevated and
subway service in large cities, city terminals, and dense
suburban traffic. There were also a few places where the
nuisance and dangers of smoke from locomotives more than
balanced the greater cost of electric installation and opera-
tion, such as long tunnels and city terminal approaches,
partly in tunnel and cut.

When the method of electric operation built up on the
rotary converter and third rail came to be studied for pos-
sible use on long lines with comparatively infrequent ser-
vice, it was quickly found that it was not a general solution
of the problem. Technically it was possible if not easy;

166 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

financially it was impossible. Such was the situation about
the beginning of 1900.

In the last months of 1885 Westinghouse had begun his
serious and powerful development of the use of alternating
current. In the next ten years he and his engineers
had established beyond reasonable doubt or question the
fact that for the generation and transmission of power,
cheaply and on a great scale, alternating current must be
used. They had produced those fundamental things, the
transformer and the rotary converter; they had brought
forward a commercial line of alternating-current motors and
meters, and they had made the conclusive world-demon-
stration at Niagara Falls. The way was shown. Engineers
throughout the world looked hopefully and even eagerly
for the alternating-current system to solve the heavy rail-
way problem; not because there were any particular merits
in alternating-current apparatus for traction itself, but
because here was a high-voltage, flexible system, which, if
it could only be used on the trains or locomotives them-
selves, would at once settle the questions of generation,
transmission, collection, and handling of large units of
power on a moving vehicle.

But there were lions in the path yet. It was beginning
to be recognized that high trolley voltage (high voltage on
the conductors feeding current to the motors) was a neces-
sary condition in a general solution. With alternating cur-
rent it was easy enough to meet the high voltage, but there
were other limitations. In the three-phase traction system,
as brought out by the Ganz Company in Europe, three-
phase motors of large power could be used, but there was
the handicap of two overhead wires at different potentials,
thus involving a double collection of current. Moreover,
this system was apparently limited to about 3000 or 4000

SINGLE-PHASE OPERATION 167

volts, and if one was to use alternating current, there should
be no such limit to the voltage. Furthermore, for lighter
service, involving relatively small motors, the polyphase
induction motor did not seem to be entirely satisfactory.
Direct current was recognized, even at this time, as the pos-
sible means provided much higher voltages than 600 could
be used, but almost everybody had doubts as to the prac-
ticability of sufficiently high voltage, either on the genera-
tors or on the motor equipment. Thus much thought was
given to the possibilities of single-phase alternating current,
for here one could use the single overhead trolley with the
voltage limitations largely removed. However, engineers
were faced by the fact that there was as yet no suitable
single-phase motor available. Mr. B. J. Arnold made a
noteworthy attempt toward single-phase operation, by try-
ing to use a single-phase induction motor to drive a car
through a special variable-speed gear. This apparently
was the first published attempt at traction by single
phase.

The Westinghouse Company had already been working
on the same problem, but along radically different lines;
namely, through the development of a series-type, single-
phase motor with commutator, resembling in characteris-
tics the series-type, direct-current motor. It had been recog-
nized for years that the variable-speed characteristics of
the series-type motor were ideal for traction service, and
the Westinghouse engineers tried to keep the fundamental
characteristics of the direct-current system. To accomplish
this meant the commutation of alternating current on a
relatively large scale, something which was then thought
to be impracticable. However, the company had had suf-
ficient experimental experience with the commutation of
alternating-current commutating motors to indicate that

168 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

it was entirely possible, especially if the frequency used
was quite low.

In 1901 and 1902 the engineers of the company took up
the question of building single-phase railway motors, and
in 1902 a contract was taken to equip a high-speed electric
line between Baltimore and Washington with single-phase,
series-type railway motors. This was the true practical
beginning of the present single-phase railway system, for
although the installation was not made, the plan was put
fairly before the world. It was recognized then, and al-
ways has been recognized, that the single-phase, commuta-
tor-type railway motor is not, in itself, quite as economical
or efficient as direct current, but against this it was cal-
culated that the simplification and economy of the trans-
mission system, together with the more economical speed
control, would offset the decreased economy of the motor
itself. From the speed-control standpoint, the single-phase
system was far ahead of the direct current, for the flexi-
bility of the alternating-current system allowed voltage
variations for controlling the motor speed, without the use
of regulating rheostats for absorbing the extra voltage and
power. Here was one of the major advantages, especially
for locomotive work.

Like all new things, the single-phase system, when first
brought out, was sometimes misapplied. In a number of
cases where the direct-current system did not seem appli-
cable, the single-phase system was used and was also found
inapplicable, the fault, however, not lying directly in the
system of electrification. In a number of cases there was an
attempt to use the alternating-current system in connection
with large direct-current systems already established, thus
involving much complexity in equipment. In fact, within
a few years, it developed that the single-phase system was

ST. CLAIR TUNNEL 169

not a satisfactory alternative to the direct-current system
in general, but that it had its own field, and this field was
where the special characteristics and advantages of high
trolley potentials would apply. In other words, the single-
phase system really began where the direct-current system
was handicapped by limitations of voltage on the conduc-
tors and difficulty of speed control. One excellent result
of the competition was the development of direct-current
systems using comparatively high voltages, running up
eventually to 3000 volts on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St.
Paul, of which more will be told later.

While there were misapplications of the single-phase
system at first, due largely to over enthusiasm, yet within
a very few years it began to be used in heavy service, and
in all such installations it has persisted, and not only per-
sisted but has enlarged its field. One of the first large in-
stallations was in the St. Glair tunnel of the Grand Trunk
Railway under the St. Glair River. There were heavy grades
at either end of the tunnel, and the locomotives, work-
ing hard, emitted much smoke and gas. This was not merely
disagreeable; it was dangerous to the lives of trainmen and
passengers if trains were stalled in the tunnel. The same
things led to electric working of other tunnels. The electric
motive power in the St. Glair tunnel was large, slow-speed
locomotives, and the first locomotives installed are still in
use. The electrical engineering and equipment were by
the Westinghouse Company. The tunnel itself was a re-
markable engineering achievement — bold, enterprising, and
attended with some peculiar risks. It was one of the earliest
examples of a cast-iron-tube tunnel built by the driven-
shield method. This, with the successful alternating-cur-
rent working, made a combination famous the world over.

The second large single-phase project, begun practically

170 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

at the same time as the St. Clair tunnel, was the well-known
New Haven electrification. This attracted great attention
and much criticism and incredulity. After the contract
was taken for electrification at 11,000 volts, 25 cycles,
single phase, many engineers, undoubtedly with all sin-
cerity, insisted, privately and publicly, that the thing
was a physical impossibility, and that large passenger and
express trains could not be handled by single-phase equip-
ment. However, Westinghouse did not worry about the
opinions of others in this matter, and was always eager to
take up the cudgel in favor of alternating-current traction.
He took the New Haven contract before the apparatus was
designed and he said to some of his engineers: "Now I have
dropped you into the middle of the pond and it is up to
you to swim out." They had swimming a-plenty. The
real troubles were not where they were expected. The first
forty locomotives built were of the gearless types, that is,
with the armatures around the axles, but driving through
flexible connections. Many wise men shook their heads
over these motors, as a gearless, single-phase, commutator-
type motor for 300 horsepower had never been attempted
before, which might be said of everything else in this sys-
tem. However, it was not the motors which developed
trouble. In fact, these motors made about the best record
of any of the elements which made up this great system.
Troubles developed in connection with the overhead-trolley
system and its protective devices. Short circuits, and vol-
tage and current surges, had been encountered in all alter-
nating-current systems, in connection with power distribu-
tion in general, but these were only semi-occasional. In
the New Haven system, at first, they were not only of daily
occurrence, but sometimes many times a day, and appara-
tus which might stand a few surges during the year and

CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL 171

still have reasonably long life, was found to last only a few
weeks on the New Haven system. New circuit breakers,
new selective arrangements, new protective devices, new
methods of insulation, new problems of trolley suspension,
new problems of underrunning trolleys had to be handled.
For the first two years some lively work had to be done,
but it was seen quite early that most of the difficulties to
be overcome were not fundamental in character and the
remedies were not prohibitive in cost or otherwise. Be-
hind all this, Westinghouse had full confidence in the sys-
tem and in his engineers, and the engineers on the New
Haven Railway also had confidence. With these powers
behind it, the system eventually began to loom up as a suc-
cess, instead of the failure which many had predicted. In
few great undertakings of any kind has there been shown
more persistence, stamina, and resourceful engineering
than in this New Haven electrification.

The most important example in the world today of work-
ing by electricity a railroad of heavy traffic is the New
Haven Road; that is, the most important in the amount of
equipment and volume of traffic. But far the greatest in
mileage worked is the mountain section of the Chicago, Mil-
waukee & St. Paul. Here also are some matters of special
interest in topography, in equipment, and in methods of
operation. Two mountain sections have been electrified, 640
miles, crossing four mountain ranges, the grades running
up to two per cent, 104 feet per mile. Current is bought
from the Montana Power Company, which has several gen-
erating stations, all driven by water power. The Power
Company has some 2000 miles of transmission line, carry-
ing current at pressures as great as 100,000 volts. Power
is sold to other users than the railroad. This is, of course,
alternating current, but the locomotives are operated by

172 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

direct current, converted by motor-generator sets at sub-
stations situated at average intervals of about thirty-three
miles, so that the direct-current transmission is short. The
motors work at 3000 volts, the highest direct-current volt-
age yet used commercially in traction.

The machinery and apparatus for the first installation
was supplied by the General Electric Company, but the
Westinghouse Company has since furnished much impor-
tant substation and power-control apparatus, and recently
it, in cooperation with the Baldwin Locomotive Company,
has furnished a number of magnificent passenger locomo-
tives. These are the largest passenger engines in the world,
weighing 275 tons, direct current, at 3000 volts, and rated
at 4200 horsepower. It goes without saying that the whole
enterprise rests on Westinghouse's conception of, and long
contest for, the distribution of power by alternating cur-
rent.

There are two features of this installation that appeal
to every intelligence however unfamiliar with electrical
engineering. One is regeneration, that is, using the motors,
going down grade, as generators, and feeding current to
other trains on the same section or putting it back through
the motor-generator stations to the alternating-current
supply system. This had been done before in a small way
in street-railway work and in some minor locomotive ser-
vice, using direct current. It was done on an important
scale in the three-phase alternating-current traction sys-
tems installed by the Ganz Company and the Italian West-
inghouse Company in Italy. With three-phase operation,
however, regeneration is a relatively simple matter. When
the three-phase induction motor runs above its synchronous
speed it automatically begins to generate power. In con-
sequence, with the three-phase motors, regeneration is an

REGENERATION 173

almost automatic adjunct to the system. Regeneration is
also used on the Norfolk & Western electrification (a West-
inghouse installation), which went into operation eight
months before the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul began
operation. This is a single-phase system, with phase split-
ters for developing three phase on the locomotive for use
with induction motors. Therefore, the Chicago, Milwaukee
& St. Paul regeneration was not new, but it was new in
the sense that auxiliary apparatus was necessary in order
to produce, more or less automatically, the regenerative
characteristics. The usual series-type, direct-current motors,
as used on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul locomotives,
are not in themselves capable of feeding power back to the
line in a stable manner. Stability in practice is obtained
by field excitation derived from a separate source, and the
regenerative devices used in these equipments, both on the
Westinghouse and General Electric locomotives, are very
interesting.

It is an attractive thought that gravity, acting through
a train dropping down grade, should generate power to
haul another train up grade. The actual saving in the total
power consumption in the St. Paul operation is from 10
to 15 per cent. Naturally, regeneration can occur only on
grades, therefore the power saving can never be a great
part of the total power used on an operating division. But
even 10 or 15 per cent is worth saving.

Another important result is in the braking effect. Part
of the energy developed in the train going down-hill is con-
sumed in running the motors which are acting as genera-
tors. That energy need not be taken care of by the brakes.
Thus, wear of brake shoes and wheels is reduced; there is
an element of safety in the added braking power; more
uniform speed on grades adds to the comfort of passengers

174 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

and reduced wear and tear on equipment, and, finally, han-
dling heavy freight trains on mountain grades is easier.

The other peculiar feature referred to is the automatic
control of current used on an operating division of, say,
two hundred miles. If you are in the cab of a locomotive
you may see the voltmeter drop. If you are observant and
curious you ask the engineer what has happened. He tells
you that a train is starting up a grade perhaps one hun-
dred miles away. At that instant the speed of all trains
on the same operating division is automatically lowered,
regardless of anything that the engineer can do. In this
installation the total quantity of power used at any one
time must be kept down to a fixed maximum. Due to
the extremely variable power requirements of the railway
system in general, excessive burdens are liable to be im-
posed upon the power supply at times, and to limit these
a system of power charges has been instituted which puts
a relatively high penalty on power excess. A power-limit-
ing system has been devised whereby the peaks of power
taken will automatically be lessened. This is done by what
might be called "a load-balancing system," whereby power
peaks are automatically held down by means of reduction
in voltage in any section which is carrying an overload.
This power equalizing or limiting system is too complex
for description here, but its general effect is to keep down
the peaks without unduly affecting the service. This is
done automatically by the power indicating and limiting
system. The maximum reduction of power obtainable is
about thirty per cent of that which could be used if the
control system were not provided. This is a very pretty
example of flexibility of electric operation. For many rea-
sons this great electrification has become famous all over
the world, and it is constantly visited by engineers from
many countries.

ELECTRIFYING RAILROADS 175

This is a water-power operation. It is fairly plain that
railroads cannot be worked by water power when there is
no reliable and sufficient water power to develop. Many
water-power projects, designed for- manufacturing, have
come to grief because the difficulties and limitations have
not been seen and analyzed. But as knowledge grows, the
radius of transmission lengthens. It becomes practicable,
technically and economically, to mass several smallish water
powers into one large system and send the combined power
long distances. The problem changes, and from year to
year it is more and more possible to make use of water
powers of small and irregular supply, extending and di-
versifying hydroelectric projects. It must not be forgotten
that all this is at bottom a matter of transmission, and that
transmission rests finally on the alternating current.

The economic advantages and disadvantages of electric
haulage on railroads of heavy traffic, now worked by steam,
are not measured by the relative cost of a unit of energy
delivered at the place where it does work. There is the
obvious advantage of saving coal for other uses. There
is the advantage, not quite so obvious, of releasing miners
for other work. There is the advantage, perhaps still less
obvious, of saving the transportation of railroad coal, re-
leasing cars, engines, tracks, and men to haul coal to other
consumers; to haul wheat, steel, beef, and merchandise.
The higher uniform speed possible with electricity permits
the same amount of freight to be handled with fewer cars,
an item of very great importance, as everybody knows now.
Labor is possibly the most important item of all. Increase
in size and speed of trains saves train labor. Roundhouse
and shop labor is reduced to still greater extent, and labor
is the largest single item in transportation cost.

Something will be said later on of the effect on the prog-

176 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

ress of mankind of the evolution of the art of transporta-
tion. In land transportation the continued improvement
of railroads is immensely the most important thing. As
the needs of organized society grow, the growth of the
capacity of the railroad machine becomes more and more
urgent. It is said by many wise men that the capacity of
a railroad can be doubled by the use of electric power, with
present operating methods. It is hard to forecast the further
increase in capacity through changes in operating methods
that may follow upon the possibility of almost unlimited
power on each train. We may look for something like a
revolution in railroad practice as a result of alternating-
current distribution.

All of these things being so, the drift toward electrifica-
tion is bound to gain in volume and velocity. At this
moment Japan, Switzerland, and Sweden, with mountain
railroads, abundant water power, and dear fuel, are working
up great projects of railroad electrification, and inevitably
they turn to eight or ten successful workings in America
for experience and to American engineers for information
and opinion; and the shade of George Westinghouse says:
"All of this I foresaw and part of it I was."

Along with the development of high-voltage, direct-cur-
rent motors, as on the St. Paul, the Westinghouse Company
has continued to develop the single-phase system with com-
mutator motors, so that it has become capable of meeting
all the requirements of freight and passenger service under
extremely heavy conditions. Moreover, it can handle multi-
ple-unit and small-car service with equal facility, and it is
particularly well adapted for electrification of freight yards,
as in the Harlem yards of the New Haven Company, prob-
ably the finest example of electrified freight yards that
can be found anywhere in the world. Thus we see that

RAILROADS AND ELECTRICITY 177

Westinghouse's hope for a universal system for handling
heavy railway work is realized as he expected by a purely
alternating-current system. Time is showing the truth of
his opinions.

From what has been written here it may be seen that in
the heavy railway field, Westinghouse and the Westing-
house Electric & Manufacturing Company have been at
the front in development and progress. The only radically
new system brought out, namely, the single phase, originated
with the Westinghouse Company. The split-phase system,
which is really a branch of the single phase, was experi-
mented with as early as 1896 or 1897, in connection with
plans for electrifying the Manhattan Elevated in New York,
and a phase splitter and induction motor were so operated
on experimental test. Later the General Electric Company
took up similar lines of experimentation and published a
description of a split-phase system somewhat earlier than
the Norfolk & Western, although apparently this system
was never applied commercially. Credit for the commercial
application of the split-phase system, therefore, lies with
the Westinghouse Company. It is interesting also to note
that the later three-phase electric locomotives on the Italian
state railways were built by the Italian Westinghouse
Company. The Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing
Company has had practical operating experience with all
systems which have been seriously proposed for railway
electrification, and has carried them through to successful
operation.

It is written in the sky that sooner or later the railroads
of the earth will be worked by electricity. The way has
been prepared by those doings which have been related.
It has not been the purpose of the narrative to suggest for
a moment that Westinghouse and his engineers have been

178 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

alone in the preparation. Far from it. The General Elec-
tric Company has done big things. It has worked with
skill and energy and power. Ganz & Company and others
in Europe have done important things. Westinghouse
and his men have always been amongst the leaders, and in
certain fundamental things they have led the leaders. In
the origin and development of the use of the alternating
current, without which these great things would have been
impossible, Westinghouse was first and was always pre-
eminent. His engineers earned and justified the confidence
and support that he gave them, generously and steadfastly.

CHAPTER X
STEAM AND GAS ENGINES

IT is probable that in the two centuries before the Chris-
tian era, Syracuse was rich in legends of the boyish inven-
tions of little Archimedes. Everybody has been told that
the steam engine as a tool grew out of the observations
and reflections of the boy Watt upon the performances of
steam in a teakettle. Likewise the boyhood haunts of
George Westinghouse have traditions of the contrivances
that occurred to the deep-revolving mind of another boy.
But the earliest documentary evidence of Westinghouse's
inventive faculty is found in a patent dated October 31,
1865, for improvement in rotary steam engines. This was
the beginning of a line of invention, development, and manu-
facture that interested him and received an important part
of his attention throughout his entire life. The patent was
issued twenty-five days after he was nineteen years old.
There is good reason to think that the invention was well
begun some years earlier, before he went into the army.

We do not know the direct inspiration that led to the
particular invention shown in this patent, but Westing-
house's environment was such as to arouse an interest in
steam engineering hi any one having mechanical instincts,
and there is reason to believe that he turned to the rotary
engine as a means of eliminating supposed losses in con-
verting reciprocating into rotary motion, as was done by
then existing types of steam prime movers. It has, of course,
been demonstrated that when reciprocating engines are
properly designed, there are no serious losses of the land

179

180 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

often assumed by those not fully informed as to the under-
lying principles involved. If Westinghouse was at first in
error with respect to this particular point, it still remained
true that a successful rotary engine would have important
advantages of compactness, high speed, and light weight,
so that the subject forever remained one of absorbing in-
terest to him, and found manifestation in many and vari-
ous forms of prime movers which utilized either steam or
gas for propulsion. The rotary engine described in the
first patent was built but never operated. A second one,
built on somewhat different lines, also proved to be prac-
tically inoperative.

While still in the navy (that is, before he was nineteen),
Westinghouse designed and partly built a four-cylinder
reciprocating engine with the cylinders placed radially
around a central valve casing containing a rotary valve to
effect steam distribution. This was a very early example of
that arrangement. Construction of this small model engine
was completed shortly after he was mustered out of the
navy. It is still in existence and is an operative machine.
As was to be expected, construction difficulties were de-
veloped, but in collaboration with his brother, John West-
inghouse, a new form was designed, from which a forty-
horsepower engine was built which was used for some years
to furnish power for driving the machinery of his father's
shop at Schenectady. Compared with the then existing
reciprocating engines, it was relatively compact and light
in weight, as the heavy flywheel was dispensed with by the
use of mutiple cylinders and high rotative speed. Struc-
tural and operative defects gradually appeared and another
engine was built on the same general principle of four radial
cylinders, in which many earlier defects were cured. This
engine furnished the power to drive blowers that supplied

ROTARY ENGINES 181

the blast for the steel-melting furnaces in his first indus-
trial undertaking, the making of cast-steel frogs and
switches. It is believed that this was the first foundry in
the United States to make steel castings exclusively.

Again he devised a variation of the four-cylinder recipro-
cating type of engine, that was built upon experience pre-
viously obtained, and was used to furnish power for the
new Air Brake Works at Pittsburgh. It ran satisfactorily
for some years, but had no marked advantages over the
accepted type of reciprocating steam engines.

As a result of observation during his first visit in Eng-
land, he became familiar with the single-acting form of
multiple-cylinder steam engine, and on his return designed
one with certain modifications and improvements that he
hoped might make it commercially adaptable to many pur-
poses in this country. This particular engine supplanted
the one first used to drive the machinery of the Air Brake
Company, and continued to operate for a few years, being
finally replaced by a reciprocating engine of the standard
type.

That these inventive efforts were regarded by Westing-
house as tentative and experimental is pretty well estab-
lished by the fact that no patents were taken for any but
the first rotary engine. The subject was apparently dor-
mant in his mind until 1891, when he patented another
form of rotary engine that for many years thereafter was
the object of intense application, resulting in the produc-
tion of numerous examples embodying various changes
and improvements. The 1891 patent contained a clear
and concise statement of the reasons why previous efforts
by other inventors had failed to produce practical and ef-
ficient machines, and proposed a remedy.

While no commercial production of rotary steam engines

182 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

resulted from these efforts, many machines were made and
sold in the form of air compressors, and proved to be most
efficient for the purpose. Experience, however, developed
that there were certain limitations tending to restrict the
field in which they could profitably be employed, and
their commercial manufacture was discontinued. An ex-
amination of the many patents issued to Westinghouse in
this line, or bought by him from other inventors, will satisfy
any one sufficiently interested to inquire into the matter,
that they disclosed most important contributions to the
branch of engineering art to which they relate, although
the meritorious character of the intelligence and industry
expended upon them has naturally been obscured by the
fact that these efforts did not result in large commercial
production.

The interest of Westinghouse in the rotary type of engine
was not confined to his own inventions. Patent 572,946,
issued to C. A. Backstrom December 15, 1896, illustrates
a form of rotary engine quite distinct from those shown
in the patents issued to Westinghouse. The Backstrom
patent was bought by Westinghouse, and the Backstrom
principle, with many variations made by Westinghouse,
was labored with assiduously and carried through an exten-
sive series of experiments, without, however, reaching a sat-
isfactory conclusion. It all makes a most interesting and
important chapter in the field of the rotary prime mover.

GAS ENGINES

Westinghouse's experience in the natural-gas field and
his efforts to make and distribute producer gas, naturally
brought to his attention the adaptability of gas engines
where natural gas or producer gas was available, with the
result that the manufacture of gas engines of moderate

GAS ENGINES 183

size was established as a part of the regular product of the
Westinghouse Machine Company. The form of gas engine
then in general use was the horizontal type, with hit-or-
miss speed regulation. This arrangement required heavy
flywheel effect to compensate for intermittent explosions,
and even then the performance was unsatisfactory for elec-
tric-lighting purposes, because of variable speed. His first
patented contribution to the gas-engine art was a method
of regulation that provided substantially uniform rotative
speed, making the engines entirely satisfactory for electric-
lighting purposes, a use to which they were largely and
successfully applied.

The high thermal efficiency of gas engines as compared
with the best performance of steam engines led Westing-
house in the late nineties to believe that if gas engines of
sufficient size could be successfully produced to meet the
increasing demands for central-station production of elec-
tricity for lighting and power purposes, they would entirely
supplant the use of steam, and he therefore directed his
efforts toward the production of relatively large sizes of
gas engines with the expectation that they would be sup-
plied with gas from gas producers in much the same manner
that steam is supplied by boilers to steam engines. For
some years this was one of his many enthusiasms. He had
great and fascinating visions of power stations with gas
engines, and spent much thought and money in efforts to
work out methods of making fuel gas. Two factors in the
problem changed with such rapidity that he ultimately
became convinced that the field for gas engines was much
more limited than he at one time had assumed it to be.
These factors were, first, a greatly increased efficiency in
steam turbines due to improved design and the use of high-
pressure superheated steam with high vacuum, and, sec-

184 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

ondly, the demand for much larger power units than could
by any possibility be produced in the form of gas engines,
the largest gas unit not exceeding 5000 horsepower, while
turbines varying from 20,000 to 60,000 horsepower are now
in large use.

TURBINES

The interest of Westinghouse in the steam turbine came
about quite logically and at first gradually; but when he
was actually committed he proceeded with his normal
energy and boldness. The Westinghouse--Machine Com-
pany, in response to the demand for increased size of gen-
erating units, designed and produced some of the largest
reciprocating steam engines made in the United States.
There was little novelty about their construction, they being
built in accordance with well-established engineering prec-
edent and practice. In performance they were entirely
successful. It is not surprising, in view of the experience
of Westinghouse in connection with rotary-engine experi-
ments, that the huge weight and bulk of these enormous
machines should have directed his attention to the steam
turbine.

"Every schoolboy knows" that a reaction steam turbine
was described by Hero of Alexandria 130 B. C. Sadi Car-
not says: "There is almost as great a distance between
the first apparatus in which the expansive force of steam
was displayed and the existing machine as between the
first raft that man ever made and the modern ship. If the
honor of a discovery belongs to the nation in which it has
acquired its growth and all its developments, this honor
cannot be here refused to England. Savery, Newcomen,
Smeaton, Watt, and some other English engineers are the
veritable creators of the steam engine." This is a generous

PARSONS AND THE TURBINE 185

word from a great Frenchman. And, strange to say, the
steam turbine carries on the same story. In 1884 Sir Charles
Parsons made a ten-horsepower turbine, and in 1885 took
out his first patents and launched another revolution in
steam engineering. From Hero to Parsons more than two
thousand years passed, and in those years nothing was
done of the least historical or mechanical consequence in
the development of the steam turbine. Then, in a very
few years, Parsons built up a great art and industry which
spread to the continent of Europe and to the United States.
De Laval, a distinguished French engineer, must not be
overlooked. His first patent seems to have been in 1883,
but he confined its useful development to small and very
high-speed machines, and Carnot's estimate of relative
honors in steam engineering still holds; an English en-
gineer was the "veritable creator" of the steam turbine.

Parsons went ahead fast. By 1889 he had built some
300 turbines, running up to 75-kilowatt capacity. In the
next five years he made a number of turbines of 350- to
500-kilowatt capacity, and the historical "Turbinia," the
first turbine ship, was afloat.

The turbine was then almost unknown in the United
States. Some experimental machines had been devised
which are known only to students, and a 300-kilowatt De
Laval turbine had been imported and installed as an ex-
periment in one of the New York Edison plants. West-
inghouse had watched Parsons, and he had become satis-
fied that the turbine was a suitable prime mover for electric
generators which ran at the speeds that are necessary for
the economical performance of the turbine. In 1895 he
took a license under the Parsons patents for manufacture
in the United States for other than marine uses. The Par-
sons-Westinghouse turbine soon came to pass. Operations

186 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

were begun in the spring of 1896, and the usual develop-
ment work was carried on under his direction, resulting in
modifications and improvements leading to a greater adapta-
bility of the design to conditions then existing in the United
States. In collaboration with the engineers of the West-
inghouse Electric Company, who made the electrical end
of the unit, the first commercial machines were produced
and installed in the plant of the Westinghouse Air Brake
Company at Wilmerding, Pa., in 1898, consisting of three
400-kilowatt machines, which are still in operation. Both
operatively and in the matter of steam consumption, the
performance was satisfactory, comparing favorably with
results obtained from the best type of reciprocating engines.

The market for large electric generators had already
been established, and Westinghouse believed that great
advantage would come from the use of steam turbines if
built in adequate sizes to drive them, and in 1899 there
was designed and built a turbo-generator of 1500-kilowatt
capacity, running at 1200 revolutions per minute, which
was installed in the plant of the Hartford Electric Light
Company — very much the largest machine of its kind yet
produced. The performance of this turbine in reduced
steam consumption was surprising, and while certain me-
chanical difficulties were encountered, that were subse-
quently overcome, it established beyond question the value
of steam-turbine prime movers in the production of elec-
tricity. The story of the development of the turbo-genera-
tor itself involves a great deal of electrical engineering and
is made the subject of another chapter.

The mechanical difficulties which appeared in the Hart-
ford machine were entirely due to its unprecedented size
and seemed for the moment to indicate the ultimate limit
to the capacity of the steam turbine. In a turbine, what-

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE TURBINE ART 187

ever its size, the clearances must be small if economy of
steam is to be secured, and but little distortion can be toler-
ated in either the stationary or the moving parts. It is
clear that the tendency to changes in the form and relation
of the parts, due to weight, motion, and temperature, in-
creases with the size, particularly with the length.

In England these mechanical difficulties were, in a
measure, avoided by building the turbine in two sections,
one using high-pressure and the other low-pressure steam,
a construction equivalent to the ordinary compound recipro-
cating steam engine. This design, however, was not re-
garded with favor by Westinghouse, as he felt that it
unnecessarily increased size and cost, and his efforts were
directed, successfully, to the solution of the problem by a
unitary structure. In all this development work he was
the leader and inspirer of a staff of highly competent and
interested engineers, with whom he actively collaborated.

One of his outstanding contributions, as an inventor, to
the turbine art was what is known as the single-double-flow
type, which was the natural outcome of experimentation
with the double-flow form. This was a distinct advance
in the art. The single-double-flow turbine became one of
the most successful products of the company, technically
and commercially. Somewhat earlier than the develop-
ment of the single-double-flow machine, Westinghouse
produced a type combining in one turbine the reaction and
impulse principles. This materially shortened the struc-
ture for a given capacity. These two inventions made a
standard of practice for high-speed machines of large ca-
pacity. Patents were secured on them, and at the time of
this writing builders of large turbines on both sides of the
Atlantic are seeking licenses to use them.

The terms "single-double-flow" and "impulse-reaction"

188 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

are not quite clear to us all, and our notions about the tur-
bine itself may be a little vague. The following uncom-
monly clear and concise explanation is helpful. It is by
Mr. Herbert T. Herr, vice-president, Westinghouse Elec-
tric & Manufacturing Company, who has long had especial
charge of the turbine work:

The turbine is essentially a machine for developing large
powers, and it reaches its maximum economy with large
capacity. It is essentially different from the ordinary steam
engine in that it converts the energy in steam into mechan-
ical work by utilizing the velocity resulting from the steam
expansion, either by action or reaction of a steam jet on
the blades, as opposed to the conversion of steam into energy
in reciprocating engines by direct pressure of the steam on
a piston.

Multiple stages become necessary in the turbine to frac-
tionally extract the energy of steam in its expansion from
boiler pressure to the condenser because it is impossible in
mechanics of engineering, as now known, to provide ma-
terials which would stand the stresses and speed necessary
to extract in one stage efficiently the energy of a jet of steam
expanding from 200 pounds pressure to 29 inches vacuum,
as the steam speed under these conditions would be 4300
feet per second.

In turbines of large capacity, on account of the large
volumes of steam to be handled in the low-pressure stages,
we again encounter the difficulty of materials in mechanical
construction to efficiently handle them through the blad-
ing, and it is therefore necessary to divide the steam in such
cases, and flow half of it through blading of half the area
which would be required if the turbine were single-flow.
In other words, by double-flowing you can double the ca-
pacity of the machine.

While the double-flow turbine is an old construction,
Mr. Westinghouse conceived the idea of using a single-flow
construction in the upper ranges of the turbine and then,
in the same cylinder casing, dividing the steam and passing

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE TURBINE ART 189

it through two independent low-pressure portions; hence
the name single-double-flow turbine. Of course, the whole
turbine could be made double-flow, but it would mean a
spindle of twice the length of a single-flow turbine, and
by double-flowing only the low-pressure portion the ma-
chine is shortened and cheapened.

With reference to the impulse-reaction combination it
is, of course, important to make the number of stages as
small as possible, i. e., the number of rows of blades, both
from the standpoint of the length of the machine and cost.
With equal blade speeds the impulse turbine requires one-
quarter the number of blades that the reaction turbine re-
quires, the reason being that the impulse turbine extracts
energy from the jet impinging on the blades in the direc-
tion of rotation of the blades, and again by reaction of the
jet on the blades as it leaves them in the opposite direction.
In the reaction turbine there are only the forces from the
reaction of the jet as it leaves the blades, since the expan-
sion for each row of blades takes place in the blades them-
selves, whereas in the impulse turbine, there is no expansion
in the moving row, the steam speed being created by the
expansion in the stationary nozzles.

At the time of Mr. Westinghouse's investigation it was
quite well known that the impulse turbine was not as ef-
ficient as the reaction turbine for a given condition suitable
to both types of machines, and that, further, the efficiency
of the high-pressure reaction turbine is less than the low-
pressure turbine because the blade heights are less and the
leakage by the stages is consequently greater in propor-
tion. Mr. Westinghouse therefore devised the scheme of
combining in a single machine that turbine which is best
suited to the higher pressures, i. e., the impulse type; and
that turbine which is best suited to the lower pressures,
i. e., the reaction type. This resulted in the so-called im-
pulse-reaction turbine which we have used a good many
years.

These are the most important of Westinghouse's engineer-
ing contributions to the turbine art. He made hundreds

190 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

of designs of, and experiments on, details which are of great
interest to the student but which it does not seem expedient
to describe here, although they further illustrate his tire-
less industry, and his skill and ingenuity in mechanical
design.

Westinghouse's own inventions, although important,
were the least part of his work in the turbine field. He
stimulated others to invent and he drove development and
research. Mr. Herr writes: "Whether he was in Pittsburgh
or New York or Lenox, he would invariably call me on the
telephone several times a day to inquire how things were
going. His usual questions would be: 'How are you now?
Did you get that turbine running again?' Then would
follow a great many terse and direct questions." He saw
that the time had come and his prescience started the tur-
bine industry in the United States. He was the first great
manufacturer this side of the Atlantic to take it up. Others
quickly followed, and naturally the impulse was felt in Eng-
land and on the Continent, where the steam turbine has
become the most important prime mover in industry and
in the navies.

THE REDUCTION GEAR

The use of the turbine in ships brought a new set of prob-
lems. The steam turbine to be efficient must run at high
peripheral speeds, and this characteristic tends to limit
its most favorable application to the direct driving of ma-
chinery that also runs satisfactorily at high speeds. The
electric generator comes within that class, but a ship's
propeller does not. The effective speed of a propeller is
slow. When it is run too fast we get slip and cavitation.
When directly coupled together, either the turbine speed
will be too low or that of the propeller too high for the

THE REDUCTION GEAR 191

efficiency of the combination. But even with this draw-
back so attractive was its use in ships, on account of saving
of weight and absence of vibration, that as soon as the suc-
cess of large turbines was demonstrated in the electrical
field, installations were made in some of the greatest fast
ships then afloat, notably the Lusitania and Mauritania.
The discordant speed conditions were in some measure cor-
rected by objectionable, but operatively successful, compro-
mise proportions of both turbine and propeller, resulting in
a smooth-running and fairly efficient propelling mechanism
when the vessel ran at full speed. At reduced speeds the
consumption of fuel was prohibitive because of the low
efficiency of the turbine, and it was quite clear that propellers
directly driven by turbines could not be advantageously
used in moderate-speed passenger or cargo ships.

This whole subject was ably and exhaustively dealt with
in a special report made to Westinghouse by the late Rear-
Admiral George W. Melville and his associate, John H.
MacAlpine, a marine engineer of much experience, and
with fine engineering attainments. At the time of their
investigation almost the only field for research was in Eng-
lish practice, and this was covered very completely.

In the light of the facts, it was obvious that a speed-re-
ducing mechanism, permitting the turbine and propeller
to each run at its most efficient speed, would greatly in-
crease the useful range of application of the steam turbine
for marine purposes, as by far the larger number of ships
are in the moderate- or low-speed class.

Gearing in some form as a speed-changing medium is
probably one of the oldest known mechanical expedients,
and its successful application in an almost unlimited field
when operating at moderate speeds is a matter of common
engineering knowledge. De Laval had demonstrated that

192 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

speed-reducing gearing properly designed, accurately con-
structed, and with suitable accessories could be operated
at very high velocities for transmitting limited powers; but
for large powers comparatively slow peripheral gear speeds
had been adhered to because of the difficulty of maintaining
the exacting mechanical conditions essential to successful
high-velocity operation.

A fundamental requirement of satisfactory gear opera-
tion is that the tooth pressure of the gears at point of con-
tact must not exceed that at which they can be operated
without abrasion. Otherwise destructive wear will quickly
render them inoperative. To insure maintenance of ade-
quate contact surface, perfect axial alignment of the driving
and driven shafts carrying the gears must be originally
produced, and substantially maintained, and this presup-
poses that there shall be little or no distortion or deflection
in the supports carrying the gears and their shafts, and
that the results of wear due to operation shall not affect
the relative alignment of the two shafts.

That there will be some deflection of the supporting base,
however rigidly constructed, is beyond question, for a ship's
frame is far from being a stable foundation, neither does it
accord with experience that four or more independent bear-
ings supporting fast-running shafts transmitting heavy
powers will wear equally.

To overcome the effects of almost inevitable misalign-
ment, with its possible serious consequences, there was
submitted by Messrs. Melville and MacAlpine a design
of a geared speed-reducing mechanism, in which one of the
transmitting shafts carrying the gears was so mounted as
to automatically maintain exact alignment between the two
shafts under all reasonable working conditions. The de-
sign was original and bold. It has been called a perfect

THE FLOATING GEAR 193

mechanical conception, and Westinghouse was sufficiently
impressed with the importance and possible success of the
proposed plan to authorize the construction of a machine
designed to transmit 3000 horsepower, and it was com-
pleted at a cost exceeding $75,000. Had he been a man
of conservative temperament, there would have first been
constructed a small and relatively inexpensive model, but
to attack the problem in that manner would have been for
him waste of time, with at best an inconclusive result, for
he felt that only through the operation of a full-size ex-
ample, under practical working conditions, could a definite
determination be reached. The trial device proved suc-
cessful beyond all expectation, as it was found to be capable
of transmitting 5000 horsepower, and its practical opera-
tion and entire adaptability for the purpose for which it
was designed were demonstrated by actual service in the
United States collier Neptune.

The circumstances under which this interesting experi-
ment was carried on are worthy of notice. In the midst of
its development and construction the Westinghouse Ma-
chine Company was placed under the control of receivers,
acting for its creditors, and both engineering and financial
pressure was brought to discontinue the experiment, but
with characteristic persistence and determination West-
inghouse succeeded in having the machine completed. His
strong conviction as to the great importance of the object
in view, and confidence in the invention of Melville and
MacAlpine, were important, if not controlling, factors in
making it possible to realize in marine service the important
advantages of the steam turbine when substituted for recip-
rocating engines, and the demonstration made in the Nep-
tune came at a most fortunate time, for the steam turbine
thereby became available for war ships. By the spring of

194 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

1920 this gear was in service in twelve destroyers, three bat-
tleships and two auxiliaries of the United States navy, and
orders were in process of manufacture for scout cruisers
for the United States navy with 90,000 horsepower in each
ship, and for battle cruisers of 150,000 or 160,000 horse-
power for a foreign navy. There were 211 ships afloat
fitted with the flexible gear, and 101 on order. These,
naturally, are pretty big ships, although the average is low-
ered by the destroyers. It was estimated that there was
afloat and on order in May 1920, 2,000,000 horsepower in
Westinghouse geared-turbine drive.

The advantages of what Westinghouse called the floating-
frame gear were summed up by him as: Greatest possible
output per pound of metal; automatic elimination of un-
equal tooth pressures; comparative noiselessness; gears
well cut can be put into operation without costly and slow
fitting of bearings and scraping of teeth. Use is steadily
establishing his claims, with all that they imply, and that
is a great deal; but at the moment of this writing a hot
conflict of opinion, international in its scope, is going on
amongst marine engineers as to the relative merits of flex-
ible gears, rigid gears, and electric drive. The conflict is
working itself out in a huge way in naval and commercial
ships, some of them of enormous horsepower. Westing-
house would have greatly enjoyed the situation if he could
have lived to take part in it.

Westinghouse contributed a number of inventions to the
flexible gear. Amongst these is an arrangement that in-
cludes a recording dynamometer showing graphically and
accurately the amount of power that is transmitted to the
propellers. But in this case the credit due to him (and it
is great) is not so much for his own inventions as for his
quick and tolerant recognition of the inventions of other

TURBINE SCHOONERS 195

men, and for the force with which he drove those inven-
tions forward against technical doubt and financial opposi-
tion.

SOME BY-PRODUCTS

The by-products of Westinghouse's imagination were al-
ways entertaining and often useful. While he was pushing
along his plans for revolutionizing marine engineering with
the geared turbine, he thought he saw a chance to bring
back to us some of the glories and profits of those brave
days when our ships carried the commerce of the world, and
when sailormen out of Salem took British troops to India
and helped save the Empire. It was a pleasant thought
to put a little auxiliary turbine in a five-masted schooner.
With fair winds the schooner would slip along at eight knots
and the screw would idle in the water. In contrary winds
and rough seas the turbine would get busy and the schooner
would keep up her eight knots. It would be a simple matter
(for him) to handle the engine from the pilothouse. He
actually designed and built a 750-horsepower turbine and
gear calculated for this attractive scheme, and meantime
he and some of his friends passed agreeable hours talking
about it.

In our brief account of the development of the geared
turbine it was said that the efficient speed of a turbine is
high; the efficient speed of a propeller is low. These are
hard and fast facts that cannot be escaped. But it occurred
to Westinghouse that the propeller might perhaps be im-
proved, and he entered upon an extensive series of experi-
ments with propellers. He designed, tested, and rejected
a great many propellers in an effort to discover some law.

A concrete tank was built about eighteen feet in diameter
and some six feet deep. A propeller shaft was put through

196 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

the wall of the tank, the propeller being placed close to the
inner wall. By the thrust of the propeller the mass of water
in the tank was set in motion, revolving in the tank. The
speed at which the water moved was measured by suitable
apparatus, giving a reading equivalent to the speed of a
boat moved through the water by a like propeller thrust.
The inside contour of the tank immediately adjacent to
the propeller fairly approximated the stern contour of a
ship. The propeller was actuated by a 500-horsepower
turbine built especially for these tests. The arrangement
of this turbine was most ingenious. The stator or casing
was free to rotate except for an arm that rested on a weigh-
ing machine. As the turning effort on the turbine shaft
is exactly balanced by the reaction on the casing, the weigh-
ing machine showed the torque, and the revolutions being
known, the power developed was easily computed. The
turbine shaft and the propeller shaft were so coupled through
a thrust block that no thrust from the propeller was trans-
mitted to the turbine rotor, but it was received and mea-
sured through the thrust block acting on a weighing ma-
chine. Now, having the horsepower delivered, the thrust
of the propeller and the speed of the water (or of the ves-
sel through the water), we can find the loss through slip,
cavitation, etc. So we have the means of making accur-
ate comparison of different propellers. By making enough
tests of enough designs the best may be discovered. The
process is costly, but it is cheaper than trying out the pro-
pellers in ships at sea.

There were two interesting refinements in these experi-
ments: one an investigation of the effect of lubricating the
propeller blades by air, the other an effort to find the differ-
ences of pressure on different parts of the surface of the
blade.

LUBRICATED PROPELLERS 197

From the speed with which the propeller cuts through
the water, and the considerable blade surface exposed, the
friction loss must be quite a factor in the energy wasted.
Westinghouse conceived the idea of lubricating the propeller
by a film of air. Blades were made with air pockets near
the entering edge and small holes drilled into these pockets.
Air was forced into these pockets to flow out as a film be-
tween the blades and the water. Many tests were made
with different air pressures, but the results were disappoint-
ing. No gain in efficiency was discovered. Very high au-
thority had warned Westinghouse to expect this result.
In one of his letters to Lord Kelvin, written some months
before the propeller experiments, he says, quite incidentally:
"I am also about to try an idea I have had for many years,
viz., the air lubrication of the hull of a ship and of the blades
of the propeller. The tests will be made on our electric
launch on Laurel Lake. To produce the required quantity
of air I have had made a rotary blower in which are incor-
porated, in a new manner, details which have been in use
some years. I find a sheet of air one-half inch thick can be
paid out next to the hull, from slots, as fast as the ship
moves. The LusitanWj for instance, would require less than
600 horsepower (to deliver the air), and this should so re-
duce the skin friction as to greatly affect the speed. I have
discovered, however, that the air in the water will neces-
sitate the use of a special propeller, to avoid cavitation,
which I am having made for trial on the launch."

Lord Kelvin replies: "I do not think it possible that
good results can be got by air lubrication of the hull of a
ship or of the blades of a propeller. Experiments on a small
scale on your electrical launch might seem to promise good
results, but I feel perfectly sure that it would be impossible
to get good results on the large scale of a ship at sea. The

198 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

air would be washed away, and would make foam, and
would, I believe, increase the turbulence of the water close
to the bottom and sides of the ship, to which a large part
of the resistance at high speeds is due. Air introduced in
any way about the blades of a propeller would, I feel sure,
largely increase cavitation troubles, which are known to
be adverse to the efficiency of the propeller."

To measure the pressure at different places on the sur-
faces of the blades, passages were cored or drilled in the
propeller castings, and the air passages were also used. Ex-
periments were made, too, to determine the effect of different
sizes of hubs. Many out of the great mass of notes collected
in these propeller studies have been tabulated and plotted
for convenient comparison. Perhaps they will some time
be generalized by a competent analyst and serve as the start-
ing point for further laboratory investigation of a most
complicated art. For Westinghouse this propeller inter-
lude was a fascinating pastime at a time when he greatly
needed diversion, in the darkest moments of his life, when
some of his companies were going through receivership.

CONDENSER IMPROVEMENTS

It will be recalled that at one time Westinghouse was of
the opinion that because of their high thermal efficiency,
gas engines might supplant steam engines for the produc-
tion of electricity, but changed his views when the use of
high-pressure superheated steam with high vacuum greatly
increased the efficiency of the steam turbine. Before he
engaged in the manufacture of turbines, Westinghouse had
little experience with condensing machinery for producing
the vacuum necessary for the most efficient operation of
steam engines. Its importance, however, soon attracted his
attention, and as the result of a contract entered into in

LEBLANC'S CONDENSER 199

1897 with Maurice Leblanc, a French physicist and engineer
of high standing, there was developed at the works of the
Westinghouse Machine Company, in accordance with the
patents of M. Leblanc, an improved type of air pump, to be
used in connection with existing types of condensers, either
jet or surface. The mechanism employed was relatively
light in weight, cheap to manufacture, and exceedingly sim-
ple in construction and operation. Added to these merito-
rious features it possessed the still more important quality
of creating a considerably higher vacuum than was obtain-
able with any other type of air pump in use. The increased
vacuum obtainable by the Leblanc system materially re-
duced the steam consumption of turbines as compared with
any other existing device in use at the time the Leblanc
air pump was put on the market, and it, therefore, became
a most important factor in that overall increase of turbine
economy that has for the present, at least, established it
as the most efficient type of prime mover for the general
production of large powers.

M. Leblanc gives this account of his first meeting with
Westinghouse:

About 1897 the owners of my patents started a suit for
infringement against the General Electric Company. This
suit took on Homeric proportions: the defense was as vigor-
ous as the attack, and it was becoming a celebrated case
when, in the year 1901, I was stopped on the Boulevard
by an unknown person, who addressed me in the following
terms: "Mr. George Westinghouse, who is now in Paris,
leaves for London in two hours; he wishes to see you im-
mediately, and has commissioned me to find you and to
take you to him, dead or alive." I replied: "Then you
mean to effect an abduction or to kidnap me. Unfortu-
nately this can no longer be regarded as the abduction of a
minor. Well then, kidnap me, I have no objection." He

200 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

conducted me to the Rue de FArcade, where, for the first
time, I saw the great engineer, who said to me: "So it is
you who have sworn to make the fortune of all the lawyers
in America. Can we come to terms? " I replied: "I ask
for nothing better, and probably my associates will do like-
wise." That was all for that day. But I had been greatly
struck with the great bearing of the man and his easy good
humor. Some months later he bought for the Westing-
house and General Electric Companies my patents, and
the inventor into the bargain, whom he appointed con-
sulting engineer to the Societe Anonyme Westinghouse in
France. That was the starting point of a cooperation of
which I shall always be proud, my first impression being
duly confirmed. He was before all things a perfect gentle-
man and a great-hearted man, and he was himself a mech-
anician beyond compare.

He inspired me not only with great admiration but also
with a warm affection, which I believe he returned to some
extent. He was the best and most steadfast of friends. I
could obtain witnesses amongst all his old co-workers whom
I knew and whose fortunes he had made. All adored as
much as they esteemed him. His vigor and his power of
work were extraordinary. He never took any rest. Start-
ing with next to nothing, he became one of the greatest in-
dustrial captains in the world. He fell in action, crushed
like a Titan, on the eve of the Great War, which he had
long foreseen. In fact, in 1903 he said to me that the first
United States war would be against the insupportable Ger-
mans. His talent as an organizer would have been of the
very greatest service, and this for us is a further cause to
regret his premature end. George Westinghouse was a
great American, and no man had a greater regard for his
country. He lived like the type of modern inventors and
great realizers. His memory will always be green in the
hearts of those who surrounded him and all who loved
him.

CHAPTER XI
THE TURBO-GENERATOR

THE turbo-generator is the greatest contrivance for the
manufacture of power yet produced by man — greatest in
the capacity of single units, in the extent of its use, and in
economy of result. Its usefulness to mankind, already
prodigious, has but just begun. In the present state of
knowledge one cannot foresee or imagine anything that
will even closely approach it in usefulness, much less take
its place. In saying this we do not limit the term to its
present strict technical meaning, an electric generator driven
by a steam turbine, but include also a generator driven
by a water turbine, which may or may not be eventually
the biggest power unit. A steam turbo-generator of 45,000
kilowatts (60,000 horsepower) is now in service. There is
another one in service, a compound turbine of three cylin-
ders, of 70,000 kilowatts (93,000 horsepower). The biggest
power station now operating generates 230,000 kilowatts
with fourteen units; but there is one building of 360,000 kil-
owatts, six steam units, and another of 450,000 kilowatts
with ten hydroelectric units. There are battle cruisers now
building to have 180,000 horsepower on four propeller
shafts, which means approximately 218,000 horsepower at
the turbines. Working current is now carried 250 miles
and more, and men are talking seriously of 800 or 1000 miles
transmission. This enormous massing of the manufacture
of power and the capacity to transmit it great distances
are amongst the most important elements of the new epoch

201

202 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

into which mankind has now entered, and of which we shall
speak later more circumstantially.

The leadership of George Westinghouse in the origin
and development of the turbo-generator was an important
part of his life. He took up the steam turbine in 1896, as
is told in the chapter on steam and gas engines. He saw
at once that the field for the turbine was in heavy power
generation by polyphase alternating current, and he began
to push the design of complete alternating turbo units paral-
lel with the design of the turbine itself. All this being so,
a life of George Westinghouse would be quite incomplete
without the story of the turbo-generator. We shall try
to tell that story briefly and with as little technicality as is
consistent with reasonable completeness. To the reader
who is not an engineer that will probably seem too much;
to the electrical engineer it will certainly seem too little.
Perhaps to the civil and mechanical and mining and chem-
ical engineer the compromise will seem judicious. One of
the notorious defects of a compromise is that it is not often
entirely satisfactory to any one.

Perhaps it is not superfluous to repeat that a turbo-gen-
erator as here spoken of is a machine to generate electric
current, driven by a steam turbine. The engine-type gen-
erator, which will be often mentioned, is a reciprocating
steam engine with the armature of the generator on the
engine shaft.

Seven or eight years before the turbine development be-
gan, Westinghouse was playing with a rotary engine, direct-
coupled to an alternator. It will be remembered that his
first patent, taken out when he was nineteen, was for a ro-
tary engine, and he did not drop it until the turbine came
along, thirty years later. The experiments of which we now
speak were carried on in a little shop occupied by the Eleo-

FIRST TURBO-GENERATORS 203

trie Company, then about three years old. Power for at
least part of the shop was supplied by this experimental unit,
which went out of service often and sometimes abruptly,
and it was not uncommon to hear the men say "there goes
that dashed rotary again," or words to that effect. The
apparatus was really a plaything, but Westinghouse took
his sports as seriously as he did his work. The difference
between work and play was in time used and not in the in-
tensity of interest.

The first turbo-generator units put in service by the Elec-
tric Company were three for the Air Brake Company. They
were of 300-kilowatt (400-horsepower) capacity at 3600
revolutions per minute, 440 volts, 60 cycles, polyphase.
This type had rotating armatures, and at 3600 revolutions
per minute the armature end winding would distort into
all sorts of shapes under centrifugal force, even when tied
down so that it would not burst. Supporting end-bells,
if made of bronze, would distort, or even burst; if made
of steel, they were magnetically very bad and would over-
heat. A decision was quickly reached that the future ma-
chine would have to be of a rotating-field type, with the
field windings so embedded or protected against centrifugal
force that stretching or bursting would be physically im-
possible. The support of the field windings, especially in
view of the insulating materials available, was thus one of
the earliest problems encountered in turbo-alternators.

By 1899 the rotating-field type was decided on. West-
inghouse was personally much interested in this part of
the construction, and would telephone almost every day
asking whether anything satisfactory or promising had
been worked out. He was very prolific in suggestions for
the rotor construction, but, not being experienced in the V
difficulties of insulation, the engineers had to turn down

204 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

his suggestions daily. However, as good reasons were given,
he took it all good-naturedly. Finally it was decided that
the rotor must be one with many relatively small slots to
subdivide the field winding into a large number of small
coils, so that each could be supported without unduly crush-
ing the insulation and becoming displaced. This developed
into the "parallel-slot" construction, which was used by
the Westinghouse Company for many years, and which
really made the Westinghouse type a pacemaker in the
race toward higher speeds, which came in the following
years.

The 3600-revolutions-per-minute, parallel-slot rotor for
the 60-cycle generator, when first designed, was made
cylindrical in general form, but with two sides flattened.
On test this made such a frightful noise that it was con-
sidered impossible. Westinghouse, who was greatly in-
terested, saw this first rotor on test in the East Pittsburgh
shops, and was much disturbed by the noise. He asked if
this was the best that could be done. The answer was to
the effect that this was the best for the present. Westing-
house seemed much disappointed, and when a few days
later he was told that the noise could probably be over-
come in a very simple manner, he snapped at the sugges-
tion and wanted to know how. It was explained that by
making the rotor entirely cylindrical, without the flat sides,
and cutting in the parallel grooves and finally turning off
the supporting wedges to give a finished cylindrical face
after the rotor was wound and wedged, a comparatively
quiet construction should be obtained. Westinghouse
thought about it a moment and then laughed and said:
"Things are easy when you know how." He authorized
the improved construction to be taken up at once, and this
eventually proved quite satisfactory, and was used for some

GROWTH OF THE TURBO-GENERATOR 205

ten years with great success. With other improvements,
such as the bolted-on shaft arrangement and artificial cool-
ing, this type of rotor enabled the 3600-revolutions-per-
minute turbo-generator to be carried by successive steps
from 400 kilowatts up to 6250 kilowatts, an increase of over
fifteen times. In the 25-cycle, 2-pole, 1500-revolutions-per-
minute machine this construction was carried from 750 kilo-
watts up to 10,000 kilowatts (say 13,400 horsepower), an
increase of about fourteen times. This was done within a
very few years.

To appreciate the effect of the turbo-generator on other
types of apparatus, it is necessary to consider the rapid
growth of the turbo-generator when it once got started.
By 1902, 6000-kilowatt units were being built. One must
remember that, only three years before, in 1899, the huge
6000-kilowatt 75-revolutions-per-minute, engine-type alter-
nators for the Manhattan Elevated were contracted for
and were assembled about a year later. Within a year or
so the 6000-kilowatt generators for the New York Subway
were also assembled. Seventeen of these machines were
built for the two stations. The outside diameter of the arma-
ture frames was forty-two feet. There was no place in the
existing shops at East Pittsburgh high enough to assemble
them. A new aisle was built with overhead travelling cranes
forty-four feet above the floor. The rings were made in
four parts to ship by rail. That involved extreme accuracy
in fitting. There were no templates or shop-measuring
devices big enough for the purpose, and a transit was .used
to line up the parts. It is no wonder that the relatively
small turbo-generator unit quickly drove these immense
machines out of the market. The engine-type generator
was right in its prime, but within two or three years it
was, from the commercial standpoint, obsolescent. Every-

206 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

body was waiting for the coming turbo-generator, with the
impression that the day of the engine-type alternator was
over. In consequence, this business went to almost nothing
within practically a year's time, and, in fact, the engine
type went down before the turbo-generator was really
ready to take its place.

This obsolescence of the engine-type alternator was al-
most pitiful. Here was a branch of heavy engineering,
built up at great cost and backed by years of experience.
In the coming of the turbo-generator this experience was
mostly thrown away, for the engineering required in the
turbo-generator work was so radically different from that
of the engine-type generator that the designers had to start
practically anew and build up entirely new experiences at
enormous expense and through years of effort. However,
in the development of the turbo-alternator there was one
favorable feature; namely, there was a large field open for
the apparatus. It was not a question of building up a new
field of use, as was the case of the earlier types of apparatus.
Also the call for larger alternators, from 1898 to 1902, in-
dicated that the engine type of construction of the future
was going to be hard put to it to meet the demands for still
larger units. In fact, the Manhattan and Subway machines
of nominal 6000-kilowatt rating (really 7500) were sup-
posed to be almost as large as was practicable, and yet people
believed that larger units than these would be necessary
at some time in the future. It was, therefore, recognized
that the engine type was handicapped for still larger sizes,
whereas engineers had a feeling that the opposite might be
true for the turbo-alternator, that is, it might eventually
make its best showing in the larger units.

From 1902 to 1906 or 1907 the turbo-alternator had a
hard time. It had driven the engine type out of the market,
but it was not easy to replace it, not because the turbo-

Turbo-generator and engine-type generator. Comparative sizes of machines
and foundations; equal powers.

GENERATORS ENCLOSED AND COOLED 207

alternator itself was unsatisfactory, but because it was not
yet advanced far enough in the manufacturing and com-
mercial end to meet the needs. Each successive large ma-
chine pointed the way to something better in the next one.
Noise, one of the great objections to the earlier machines,
even after the smooth cylindrical rotor was devised, had
to be overcome, and this was accomplished principally by
enclosing the generator and furnishing artificial ventila-
tion. This was carried out on commercial machines while
being got ready for the market. With the enclosure and
consequent less noise, and the then necessary addition of
artificial ventilation due to the enclosure, a great advance
was permissible in ratings, and this accompanied the great
growth in capacity mentioned above. To show how fast
this work was growing, orders were placed in the shop for
an experimental enclosed machine to determine the pos-
sibilities of enclosure and artificial ventilation, but before
this experimental machine could be completed and tested,
the use of such enclosure and artificial cooling had been
forced on the standard machines, due to commercial needs,
and had become established practice. In this matter of
enclosing and artificial cooling, there was much severe criti-
cism. The criticism was made frequently that the Westing-
house machines necessarily were badly designed because
they had to be boxed up and big blowers added. No other
types of generators, according to such criticism, needed
artificial cooling, and, therefore, the Westinghouse machines
were very bad, indeed, if they needed such remedies. How-
ever, the public accepted such machines and wanted more
of them, and before long other manufacturers began to box
in their machines and pipe air to them. They went through
the same stages as Westinghouse and eventually came to
the same general practice.
The two great competitors in this turbo-generator work

208 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

were the Westinghouse and General Electric, the former
with horizontal-shaft units, and the latter with vertical.
It was General Electric practice to fight the Westinghouse
high speeds. There was a good reason for this; the Gen-
eral Electric vertical-type units became increasingly difficult
to construct and operate as the speeds were increased, and,
consequently, when the Westinghouse large-capacity turbo-
generators were pushed to the ultimate limit of two poles,
it was too much for the General Electric type, and this had
to be changed from the vertical to the horizontal. It is
amusing now to look back over the criticism of Westing-
house practice. It was pointed out that nobody else, either
in Europe or in America, advocated such high speeds as
Westinghouse and, therefore, Westinghouse must be wrong.
However, these speeds are now standard practice all over
the world.

It is difficult to exaggerate the effects of the turbo-alter-
nator on the electrical industry of today. It is hard to
see how the situation could have been met by the engine-
type alternator, especially in view of the 20,000- to 40,000-
kilowatt (53,000-horsepower) turbo units of today. The
saving in space required has been of immense value, espe-
cially in large cities. The fuel economy of the huge turbo-
generators is of vital importance. The great generator
units and generating plants have driven out of business
many of the small isolated plants and even some of the
larger individual plants. The central station with its turbo
units can manufacture and sell power at a rate which tends
to kill off all competition, and its growth is most interest-
ing. Cities which a few years ago bought units of 2000
kilowatts now buy generating units of 20,000 kilowatts, and
larger cities, which a few years ago bought units of 5000
kilowatts, or even 10,000 kilowatts, now are buying units

ANALYTICAL ENGINEERING 209

of from 30,000 to 60,000 kilowatts. It is hard to see that
this could be, without the turbo-generator.

The development of the turbo-generator required the
highest analytical engineering. Take a high-speed alterna-
tor, for instance, one of 3600 revolutions per minute. This
cannot be designed by cut and try, for there must be no
undue experimental elements in the construction, at the
terrific speed at which these machines run; namely, at about
25,000 feet peripheral speed per minute. The same is true
of the turbine, for here even higher speeds may be attained.
The designers of the turbo-generator sets have, in many
cases, worked far ahead of any available data, and, accord-
ingly, have had to depend mostly upon analysis. Consider-
ing the difficulties of the problem, the record has been good.
True, difficulties have arisen from time to tune, which analy-
sis did not cover. For instance, protection against the ef-
fect of short circuits in the larger machines had to be worked
out largely by actual test. The 20,000-kilowatt turbo-
alternator may give momentarily ten to fifteen times its
rated current on short circuit, corresponding to 200,000- to
300,000-kilowatt load, as far as distorting forces are con-
cerned. The effects of such short circuits are so' enormous
that in some of the earlier large units, the end windings
"twisted up like a wet towel," as one customer explained.
One large generator, after a short circuit, ran melted iron
down through itself for several minutes. With increased
experience, engineers have been able to meet this situation,
until now generating powers of enormous capacities can
be tied together in one system without undue danger. A
few years ago it was suggested that 50,000 kilowatts was
the greatest capacity which it was safe to tie to one bus-
bar system, but now they talk about five to ten times this.

Another problem which has been; to a large extent, the

210 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

outgrowth of the turbo-generator is that of switching such
large powers. As said above, a 20,000-kilowatt unit may
give ten to fifteen times the rated current on short circuit.
With a number of such units tied together, obviously the
problem of rupturing a short circuit on any kind of a switch
is a tremendous one. The oil breaker of the present time
is an attempt to do this, and the problem of the successful
oil breaker has been considered as solved from time to time.
However, with the growth of the turbo-generator units and
the growth in the size of the stations, with more and more
units tied together, the oil breaker has had increasing dif-
ficulty in keeping up with the situation, and it may be said
that the race between the generating station and the breaker
is still on.

To see one of these great stations equipped with huge
turbo-generating units, one would get the impression that
the generating unit, in itself, is really a minor part of the
plant, so great is the amount of auxiliaries necessary, in
the form of switchboards, breakers, and protective devices.
The boiler plant is not a secondary element either. More-
over, ventilation has become serious in such stations. The
amount of air required to cool a large alternator is such
that each unit puts through itself practically its own weight
of air in from forty to sixty minutes, and these machines are
no toys either. A station of 200,000 kilowatts would require
approximately 600,000 cubic feet of air per minute for venti-
lation alone. If this air is discharged directly into the gen-
erator room, provision must be made for discharging from
the room. This may mean replacing the entire amount of
air in the room every ten or fifteen minutes.

The turbo-generator has brought with it many problems,
which are not those of the turbo-generator itself, but which
have to do with the manufacture of power in enormous

SOME TROUBLES 211

amounts. In fact; here we are dealing with something in
the nature of high explosives. For instance, a little short
circuit in an instrument transformer, in one of the great
New York power houses, blew the windows out of the build-
ing. A short circuit in one of the generators itself is often
in the nature of a real disaster, as has been told above.
Strange means have been devised for suppressing fires which
sometimes occur in these highly ventilated machines. Live
steam in large quantities has been used to put out such
fires. Here we are dealing with huge powers, the dangers
are huge, and the preventive and protective means must
be correspondingly huge. The turbo-generator has brought
its own troubles and sometimes one is tempted to wish that
the thing had never been heard of. Then he may take some
comfort in the saying of a philosopher, that progress has
been by a series of catastrophes.

CHAPTER XII
SIGNALLING AND INTERLOCKING

AT the outset of a consideration of the work of George
Westinghouse in railroad signalling and interlocking, it
seems desirable to say a few words by way of definition
which to many readers will seem elementary, but which
to many more readers are necessary to an understanding
of the nature and the importance of the art.

The function of signals is not merely, perhaps not prin-
cipally, to stop trains. An important function is to keep
trains moving — to keep them moving with such frequency,
such regularity, and at such speeds as will get the best eco-
nomic results, in service and in cost, under the conditions
which control a given situation. These conditions differ
widely, from the single-track, cross-country road with
half a dozen daily trains, to the city transit road with four
tracks and trains following each other at intervals of 108
seconds. Signals tell a train when to reduce speed, when
to stop, when to start, when to proceed under control, and
when to go ahead at speed. Such information is highly
important when different kinds of trains, fast and slow,
local and express, freight and passenger, are moving on
the same track. It is absolutely necessary to getting the
maximum service out of a dollar invested in track.

Block signals seek to preserve an absolute interval of
space between trains. The length of this space interval
must vary with the grades and curves and with the kind
of traffic and the maximum speed of trains working over
a given piece of track. In a paper prepared by Westing-

212

WHAT INTERLOCKING IS 213

house in 1913, and never published, are some figures of train
stops which show the difference in block-signal spacing de-
manded for different speeds. A train of ten cars, hauled
by two locomotives, was fitted with the most perfect brake
equipment. Stops were made from 90 miles an hour in
2900 feet; from 60 miles an hour in 1100 feet; from 20
miles an hour in 120 feet. These were under ideal condi-
tions. Under the conditions of good every-day practice
stops were made from 90 miles an hour in 4450 feet, and
from 60 miles an hour in 1750 feet. Obviously fast traffic
demands longer blocks than slow traffic; but, on the other
hand, the longer the blocks the fewer the trains that can
be passed over the road. Signal engineering is a compli-
cated art and worth the attention of a man of even West-
inghouse's ability.

Interlocking provides for such control and operation of
switches and signals that they must move in certain se-
quences, and that it shall be mechanically impossible for
them to move in any other order. Switches are interlocked
with other switches and with the signals that govern move-
ment through them, and the signals are so interlocked as
to make conflicting signals impossible. The levers which
move the switches and signals are assembled in one ma-
chine and there interlocked. If a man were blindfold
and pulled the levers at random he could stop traffic but
he could not produce a collision. As many as 215 electro-
pneumatic levers have been assembled in one machine.
The possible combinations of these are many millions, the
safe combinations some hundreds, and as interlocked only
the safe combinations can be made.

When Westinghouse became interested in interlocking
and block signalling those arts were well developed in Great
Britain, but were almost unknown in the United States.

214 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

Block signalling began in England about 1846 and inter-
locking began in 1856. By 1890 all British railways doing
passenger business were thoroughly signalled and inter-
locked. The first interlocking machine seen in the United
States was an English machine brought over in 1876 for
the Centennial Exposition. By 1900 many big railroad-
yards, junctions and crossings were interlocked, but many
more were still unprotected. Block signalling had begun
on a few railway systems, but hardly more than begun.
Even yet we have not reached the completeness of pro-
tection of the British railways, but in mechanical methods
of signalling and interlocking we have gone far beyond the
rest of the world, and this is due in great degree to the im-
pulse and direction that Westinghouse gave to the art.

When Westinghouse entered this field in 1880, he found
it entirely unoccupied here. He had not only to design and
make apparatus, but he had to create his market, and the
market grew very slowly. For twenty years the company
which he organized, the Union Switch and Signal Company,
struggled along in the tedious process of educating the
buyers of its product, and then it came into great pros-
perity. Westinghouse had supported it through these lean
years by his personal credit, and he laid the foundations
of its success by his perception of the future course of the
art and by his own contributions to its technical growth.

A basic contribution by Westinghouse to the signalling
and interlocking art was the development of the use of
power. He was not the first inventor to take out patents
in power interlocking and signalling; probably he was not
the first to conceive the idea. He was, however, the first
inventor to conceive and develop methods and apparatus
that went into actual and lasting use, that laid the founda-
tions of general practice, and that are still in use sub-

STATE OF THE SIGNAL ART 215

stantially as he first worked them out and installed them
in the railroads. In actual priority of patented invention
he was close to the first. In priority of conception he may
have been the first. That no man can tell. Westinghouse
was not the first man to invent an air brake. James Watt
was not the first man to invent a steam engine with a
piston and cylinder. But they invented mechanisms that
worked, and they made revolutions in economic life, and
mankind is quite satisfied to remember them, while Papin,
Newcommen, and Nehemiah Hodge are names known only
to inquiring students.

To understand the meaning of Westinghouse's work in
invention and design in the signal and interlocking field
from 1880 until his death, a few general facts should be
known that indicate the means available at the various
periods of his inventions, and also explain the sentiment
then existing toward what were and what were not permis-
sible methods in switch and signal control and operation.

Prior to 1880 the air brake was substantially the only
application of compressed air to railway working. The
telegraph was the only well-established institution employ-
ing electricity in the service. To some extent, but in a crude
way, electricity had been adapted to the operation of cer-
tain forms of block signals and to the various indicators,
locks, bells, and annunciators then used in both the block
and interlocking field. Electric lighting was confined to
the series-arc method almost exclusively, and electric
motors applied to locomotion and to power purposes in
general were practically unknown, and very imperfectly
developed.

Hydraulic pressure had long been recognized as a flexible
medium of great possibilities in many capacities, and espe-
cially as affording means whereby a relatively feeble energy

216 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

applied over considerable time might produce great me-
chanical effects, as in hydraulic lifts, jacks, etc. Conse-
quently, attempts had been made to apply this force to
switch and signal operation, and with some success at the
period of Westinghouse's entry into this field. Naturally,
he began with the belief that in the hydraulic principle lay
the quickest, if not the surest, road to success, and, hence,
his first patents use hydraulic pressure rather than pneu-
matic pressure, though "fluid pressure," as he designates
it, covers both elements. He was quick to see, however, the
difficulties inherent in the use of a liquid, not alone because
it must be non-freezing and, hence, more or less expensive
to maintain; but also, because not being compressible,
it did not lend itself to the rapid action of impacting de-
vices (such as the art then included) for setting it in mo-
tion without the development of excessive pressures within
its conductors due to its inertia. These and many minor
reasons precluded the successful adaptation of hydraulic
pressure to the automatic operation of block signals by
treadle devices actuated by train wheels, as embraced in
one of his early patents. With his prior experience in air-
brake operation, it was but natural that he drifted away
from hydraulic and to pneumatic developments.

Though early conceiving the great advantages of elec-
tricity as a medium for the control of compressed air, auto-
matically or otherwise, from a distance, in the application
of that pressure to switch and signal mechanisms, he shared,
at the time, with railway men in general, the aversion to
the use of electrical devices in close proximity to, if not
actually upon, the railway tracks. Consequently, though
having contrived an extremely simple, efficient, and remark-
ably practicable electropneumatic device for the operation
of signals — a device free from track vibrations and well

DAWN OF THE ELECTROPNEUMATIC 217

shielded from adverse weather influences in service — he
hesitated to apply its principles to practical switch operation
until as late as 1890, and preferred to use hydraulic pressure
to apply power and pneumatic pressure to set it in opera-
tion for handling switches, in his early interlocking efforts.

For ten years this policy was followed in the numerous
large terminal interlockings that were equipped with his
system. The signals of the system, as well as the many
that were installed during that period as automatic block
signals, employed the electromagnet, however, controlled
from a machine lever or a rail circuit, or both, as a means
for admitting and discharging the air pressure to and from
the signal-operating mechanism.

In 1890, when the control of pneumatically operated
switches was finally recognized as also wholly practicable
by electromagnets under the influence of the tower operator,
the hydraulic control was abandoned in its favor, and the
truly electropneumatic interlocking was commercially born.

During these ten years great strides had been made, not
only in the general education of the world in electric matters,
but in the enlightenment of railway men in particular con-
cerning the possibilities of the use of electricity in many
applications that in 1880 could not have been served elec-
trically. Electric generators, chemical and mechanical,
had reached high perfection; insulated wire, conduits, mo-
tors, and various other electrical appliances had been in-
troduced in all branches of industry, and the education that
followed removed the barrier that for ten years had pre-
vented the use of the electropneumatic principle in switch
operation.

With these facts in mind one may readily follow, from
the successive patents granted to Westinghouse for signal
and interlocking devices the processes of the gradual evo-

218 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

lution of the electropneumatic system from the more or
less impracticable hydraulic system that held the stage
when he came upon it — a stage illuminated by the tallow
candle and the kerosene lamp. A complete list of the
eighteen patents that he took out in signalling and inter-
locking is given in an appendix. Here we shall consider
only those inventions which changed the art.

In early practice, switches and signals were moved by
man power. Handling a busy interlocking cabin with
switches 1000 feet away (more or less) was heavy work.
In 1887 a British writer said that in the London Bridge
Station, North Cabin, 280 levers were assembled in one
frame. Six hundred trains passed in a day and ninety trains
in two busy hours. These figures do not include the many
switching movements. This plant was worked by gangs of
four men in eight-hour shifts, and it took a husky man to
pull over some of the levers. In power interlocking, a girl
can move the little levers, and combination of functions
reduces the number of levers. One plant of 215 electro-
pneumatic levers built in St. Louis by the Union Switch
and Signal Company does the work of 696 levers of the
London type. There are 403 units, switches, and signals
operated from this machine.

Westinghouse having decided to add railroad signalling
to his many other activities, it was inevitable in his character
that he should proceed with energy. In one year he took
out six patents in signalling and interlocking, ten brake
patents and five in other arts. On February 1, 1881, he
received a patent for moving a switch by compressed air,
using a principle employed in his brake devices; "the switch
movement is effected by changing from one direction to
another the balance or excess of two pressures which act
simultaneously in two directions." In April came a patent

HIS FIRST INTERLOCKING 219

for operating the signals in a block-signal system by the
movement of the train. This was entirely automatic. Man
power was required only for inspection and maintenance.
Compressed air is "the motive power . . . and a hydraulic
column or line is the means of transmitting and applying
the power." The mechanism is brought into operation by
the wheels of a passing train striking a treadle or other track
instrument. This scheme does not appear to have been
put to actual use. On the same day a patent was issued
for Westinghouse's first interlocking machine. The move-
ment of the switches and signals was by "putting in motion
a closed hydraulic column," from the interlocking machine
to the operating cylinders. A movement of a small lever
admitted a puff of compressed air to one side of a flexible
diaphragm and set in motion the hydraulic column, which,
in turn, actuated pistons in the working cylinders, however
distant they might be. Twenty-one machines of this kind
were installed between 1883 and 1891, but they were all
replaced in time by electropneumatic plants.

The conception was ingenious and the mechanical de-
tails were worked out with great skill and thoroughness,
but the first cost was large and maintenance was expensive
and difficult. Leakage in long lines of pipe under pressure
was serious, and the white salts deposited from the leak-
ing of the non-freezing solution were unsightly. Westing-
house foresaw these objections to his "pneumatic-hydraulic"
devices, and from the first looked forward to the electro-
pneumatic system. In that system the work is done by
compressed air, conveyed in a common line pipe and fed
by a short branch to each cylinder. Air is admitted to the
piston chamber and exhausted by an electromagnetic valve
which is energized by an electric impulse sent out from the
interlocking machines in the signal cabin. This simple

220 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

and elegant device was first used in signalling and inter-
locking by Westinghouse and is still standard practice.
His application for a pneumatic-hydraulic system was filed
January 8, 1881; two days earlier he had filed an appli-
cation for his first electropneumatic patent, showing a switch
moved by compressed air, controlled by an electromagnetic
valve. This was a complete and workable design, thor-
oughly developed in detail. In May he applied for a patent
showing the same system for operating signals, and inci-
dentally showing its use in a system of block signals auto-
matically controlled by track circuits. Thus, at the be-
ginning of his activities in signalling and interlocking he
foresaw the principles and laid down the fundamental ele-
ments of all the later developments in the art.

The first power interlocking put into service in America
and, so far as we have discovered, the first in the world,
was installed at East St. Louis by the Union Switch and Sig-
nal Company in 1882. This was built under the patents of
Guerber and Tilden, which had been bought by the Union
Company. It worked entirely by hydrostatic pressure
secured and maintained by a pump and accumulator. The
switch cylinders were double-acting, pressure acting on
both sides of a piston to move a switch in both directions.
The signal cylinders were single-acting, the signal being
moved one way by hydrostatic pressure and the other way
by gravity. Alcohol was used as a precaution against freez-
ing, and, although it was returned from the cylinder to the
pump after each operation, there was leakage and waste,
and the cost of operation was serious. The system had
other inherent defects that could not be corrected easily,
if at all. The plant was eventually overhauled to work
by compressed air. This seems to have been the begin-
ning, in actual practice, of power interlocking.

TRACK-CIRCUIT CONTROL 221

In the years when power interlocking was getting born
the operation of signals by power and their automatic con-
trol by track circuit began to interest American inventors.
Here again Westinghouse was amongst the pioneers. Other
inventors preceded him in the use of a weight to be wound
up and released by an escapement controlled by a magnet
and also in the use of hydrostatic pressure; but both of
these means of applying power were impracticable for ex-
tensive use and were short-lived. So far as we have dis-
covered Westinghouse was the first to use compressed air
to move signals and switches, and in the dawn of the art of
power signalling he invented, designed, and patented mech-
anisms which are in very wide use and have been but little
changed.

Other inventors also anticipated Westinghouse in track-
circuit control, but here again he promptly took the lead
in devising systems which went into large and lasting use.
It was another of those situations which arose often in his
career when the combination of comprehensive vision, me-
chanical insight and contrivance, thoroughness in detail,
determination and driving power carried him on to great
and lasting accomplishment when others failed. In brief,
it was a case of the difference of mental stature.

So the signal business was launched in the United States.
The education of railroad officers and of the public went
on slowly. The education of those who dictated the finan-
cial policy of the railroads was perhaps still slower. There
was little demand for the product of the Signal Company,
and Westinghouse gave the greater part of his time and
thought to matters which promised quicker returns and
greater results. The Machine Company was organized in
1880 and called for much attention. The natural-gas de-
velopment began in 1884 and a new art was to be created.

222 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

In two years, 1884 and 1885, Westinghouse brought out
twenty-eight patents in this art. The Westinghouse Elec-
tric Company was formed in 1886. Shortly before this
Westinghouse began one of the most important efforts of
his life, the introduction and development of the alternat-
ing current for the distribution and use of electric energy.
This called for absorbing thought and labor. In 1888 came
the most critical and dramatic episode in the history of the
air brake which brought out a swift and brilliant display
of Westinghouse's temperament and genius.

Notwithstanding such demands, Westinghouse filed in
1888 an application for his most elaborate and his most im-
portant patent in interlocking, and the patent was issued in
February 1891. This invention was developed in collabo-
ration with Mr. J. G. Schreuder, afterward Chief Engineer
and one of the vice-presidents of the Union Switch and
Signal Company, whose name appears in the patent speci-
fication as a co-inventor. This was the basis of an impor-
tant and profitable business, which still endures. Many of
the greatest railroad yards in the country are handled by
the electropneumatic interlocking, and it has gone into
considerable use abroad. It was the culmination of ten
years of study and experience, and the specifications of this
great patent were worked out with such unsparing labor
and such comprehensive skill that but few changes in de-
tail have been made from the original designs.

One must regret that the plan of this book does not per-
mit adequate mention of several excellent engineers who
helped Westinghouse in working out electropneumatic sig-
nalling and interlocking, but the story would be incomplete
without the name of John Pressley Coleman. He has been
with the Union Switch and Signal Company from very early
days, and has been a prolific and judicious inventor and de-

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BASIC ARTS 223

signer. In the special field of operating switches and signals
by electropneumatic means he has long been a high author-
ity— perhaps for twenty years the highest authority.

The development of the power brake was one of the
greatest events in the evolution of the art of land transpor-
tation, second only to the invention of the tubular boiler
and of the Bessemer process for making steel; but the de-
velopment of power signalling and interlocking was neces-
sary to the full effects of the brake. One was the comple-
ment of the other. So/ too, the development of the uses
of alternating electric current for the transmission and ap-
plication of power was one of the greatest events in the
evolution of the art of manufacturing power. These two
arts are at the base of the structure of modern society. As
we go on in our study we become more and more clearly
aware of the place of George Westinghouse in the evolu-
tion of these two fundamental arts. In this chapter the
aim has been to show something of his part in railway sig-
nalling and interlocking.

CHAPTER XIII
NATURAL GAS

WESTINGHOUSE was not the first man to bring natural
gas into Pittsburgh. At least two companies were operat-
ing there for a year or two before he became actively con-
cerned in the matter; but their operations were narrow
in conception and scope and crude in execution. Westing-
house saw the situation in a large way and he saw it as an
engineer, and he changed it abruptly and fundamentally.
One of his associates in this development, a Pittsburgh
man, writes: "Mr. Westinghouse was the only man of all
those engaged in the natural-gas business who sized up the
situation and was willing to spend money to meet the
wants of the people in Pittsburgh and Allegheny City
and the vicinity." He organized the Philadelphia Com-
pany with sufficient capital, and bought land in possible
gas fields and secured gas rights by lease on a royalty basis.
The large sums paid annually to the formers in western
Pennsylvania for the rent of gas wells were an important
addition to the wealth of the region.

He organized the transportation of gas over consider-
able distances on a new plan. Gas was then piped in and
distributed in six-inch and eight-inch mains. Westinghouse
started at the wells with an eight-inch line. After four or
five miles this was stepped up to ten inches; then to twelve,
twenty, twenty-four, and thirty inches. Later, thirty-six-
inch pipe was, and is still, in use. At the points where the
gage of pipe changed there were safety valves, and men
were constantly on duty to watch the valves. Perhaps it

224

NATURAL GAS DANGERS 225

is superfluous to tell the reader that this is an expedient
for reducing friction and pressure, well known and obvious
to engineers. Westinghouse had the courage and sagacity
to apply it to a new and experimental situation.

Westinghouse seems to have had no active interest in
the use of natural gas until late in 1883. By midsummer
of 1884 he was in full swing. His company was organized
and financing was well under way; a broad charter and
adequate city ordinances had been procured; and a copious
stream of invention began to flow. Thirty-eight patents in
this art were taken out by Westinghouse. Of these, twenty-
eight were applied for in 1884 and 1885. His great experi-
ence in using compressed air at high pressures gave him a
good foundation.

Serious inconveniences and more serious dangers had
developed in the early distribution and use of natural gas
in the Pittsburgh district. Breaks in supply and service
lines left mills without power and houses without heat.
This was bad, but in dwellings worse things followed. When
the supply was cut off or pressure fell, fires went out in
grates and ranges. When the supply came on again, if the
cocks had not been shut, rooms were filled with unburned
gas and asphyxiation or explosions and fires followed. This
danger was increased by a common practice of letting gas
fires burn continuously, windows being opened to cool the
rooms. This was in the days before gas was metered, and
while it was looked upon as inexhaustible, and sold to the
user at so much per opening. Natural gas has little odor,
and leaks may go on unnoticed until dangerous quantities
have accumulated and explosive mixtures have formed.
It happened in the early days that leakage from street mains
crept into houses and the houses were wrecked by explo-
sions.

226 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

Westinghouse devised a system of escape pipes which
paralleled the street mains, and by which leakage was car-
ried off through comer lamp posts. He invented meters
for household and factory use, the latter, the Westinghouse
proportional gas meter, having a capacity of 500,000 cubic
feet per hour. His most important safety device was the
automatic cut-off regulator. When the gas pressure drops
below four ounces (the working pressure for household use)
the supply is automatically cut off, and the consumer cannot
light a jet until all the valves in the house have been closed.
Then the supply can be restored by pressing a button on
the regulator. This provides against such accidents as
have been described above. In brief, he created the tech-
nique of a new art.

The direct personal activity of Westinghouse in natural
v gas ended in December 1899, when he resigned as presi-

dent and as a director of the Philadelphia Company.
Meantime, there had been a great development of the busi-
ness in western Pennsylvania. Eleven and three-quarter
billion cubic feet of gas was sold in 1898. There were 395
producing wells, 962 miles of pipe line, 318 miles of tele*
phone lines, and 114,471 acres of gas and oil lands.

The waste was prodigal, and it was the constant effort
of the officers of the Philadelphia Company to get its cus-
tomers to use gas economically. The gradual establish-
ment of meters corrected what one of the old officers calls
"a crying shame." As the near-by wells were exhausted
and the distance from which the supply must be drawn
increased, the cost to the consumer rose, and the use of
gas in the mills fell off, but it is the chief domestic fuel in
the district, and is still much used in the industries.

A minor but picturesque event which happened at the
outset of Westinghouse's natural-gas experience has often

THE GAS WELL AT "SOLITUDE" 227

been described. It made great excitement in Pittsburgh
and some uneasiness amongst those who were already
bringing in gas in a small way. This was the sinking of a
well in the grounds of "Solitude/' his home at Pittsburgh.
Having decided to prospect for gas in his own back yard,
a contract for drilling was made, December 29, 1883, and
about the end of February a small vein of gas sand was
tapped, with a moderate yield. Mr. Gillespie, who was
drilling the well, remembers Westinghouse saying that
"he would prefer a well of this size to a larger one, as he
had enough gas for his house and for some of his friends
in the neighborhood. This feeling lasted only a few days,
and he was keen to go on." Of course he was. There were
unexplored possibilities in the earth beneath and in the
water under the earth. At 1500 feet another vein was
struck, with a good yield, and the drillers wished to stop
for fear of getting salt water and spoiling the well. But
Westinghouse "had a new thing to play with, spending
his evenings at the well, scheming new drilling tools and
improvements in ways of prospecting." Why stop? A
little deeper "we struck such a volume of gas that it blew
the tools out and ripped off the casing head with such a
roar and racket that nobody could hear his own ears, with-
in a block." The gas was set alight, and for weeks the
neighborhood was lit up by this roaring torch, a hundred
feet high. It was fun for Westinghouse, but rather dis-
turbing to the peace of a handsome residential section.
The well was got under control and capped, and Westing-
house went into the natural-gas business.

The administrative and executive machinery for this
enterprise was provided by the creation of the Philadel-
phia Company. This company exists and works under
an old charter, one of four or five "omnibus" charters

228 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

granted by the Pennsylvania legislature about 1870, and
carrying very broad powers. The discovery and purchase
of this charter by Westinghouse and his officers and agents
secured to the new company an asset of great value. The
company has for years owned and operated the street rail-
ways of Pittsburgh and San Francisco, and it produces
and distributes electric current for light and power for
Pittsburgh and the near-by suburbs.

Westinghouse eventually withdrew from the Philadel-
phia Company and from the natural-gas business. The
developing and pioneering period had come to an end and
he had but mild interest in accomplished activities. Mean-
time, he had created an enterprise of great public service.
It gave to a large region a new fuel — clean, convenient,
and relatively cheap. This fuel was distinctly superior
in the heating furnaces of the varied iron and steel indus-
tries, and especially superior hi making glass, and for a
time it was much used for making steam.

However long these conditions may or may not continue,
certain permanent results followed from the natural-gas
development. Early in our Colonial history Pittsburgh
was seen to be a strategic point, in trade and in war. Later
it took on new importance as a convenient place to assem-
ble iron ore, and coal, and all the world knows what fol-
lowed, for Pittsburgh is as famous as Westphalia. The
discovery and development of the Lake Superior iron mines
led to the establishment at lake ports of new iron and steel
works and the enlargement of old ones. There was some
alarm in the Pittsburgh district, but the supply of natural
gas on a large scale came in the nick of time and stopped
much of the threatened diversion of this industry. Pitts-
burgh is more than an iron and steel city. In that vicinity
more glass is made than in all the rest of the United States,

SMOKELESS PITTSBURGH 229

and about half of our total output of cork products comes
from that district. In some degree these and many other
industries were held or stimulated by natural gas. It would
be idle, though interesting, to speculate upon what would
have happened if natural gas had not been brought into
Pittsburgh just at the critical moment, and developed
swiftly and on a great scale; but we know what did
happen. George Westinghouse came on the field at the
tactical instant in an industrial battle.

For a few years Pittsburgh had blue skies. People again
saw its beautiful hills and valleys. Its smoke-stained
buildings came out into the sunlight and seemed suddenly
to have grown old. This lasted but a few years; the black
and red clouds again rolled up from the valleys, and clear
skies again became a sign of adversity. Westinghouse
loved Pittsburgh in all its aspects. In the short period of
sunshine and in its normal gloom, to him it was beautiful.
Standing before the electric works at East Pittsburgh,
looking down the Turtle Creek valley to the impenetrable
clouds hanging over the Carnegie Works and Homestead,
looking up the valley to the black columns rising over the
Air Brake works, looking across to the bare and blasted
hillside and the naked oaks, smothered by soot and gases,
he made a sweeping gesture and said: "Isn't it beauti-
ful?" Ruskin could not have understood the emotion,
but Carlyle would.

FUEL GAS

There came a time when two serious considerations
forced themselves upon the minds of engineers and inves-
tors. One was that if the natural gas gave out, there would
be a large idle investment in the plant for distributing, con-
trolling and using gas. The other was that if electric light-

230 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

ing became general there would be another idle investment
in plant for making and distributing illuminating gas. To
Westinghouse, and to various other engineers, came the
notion of making fuel gas for heat and power. This would
fill the natural-gas pipes and save that loss. It was further
proposed to use the existing illuminating-gas plants to make
fuel gas and save another loss of invested capital. In the
mind of Westinghouse this group of ideas grew, as was al-
ways the case. He foresaw gas producers, established at
suitable places, making gas to run gas engines; these en-
gines to drive electric generators, producing lighting cur-
rent. Then, as the art advanced, he foresaw the produc-
tion of power current in the same way. His imagination
saw the railroads of the United States lined with electro-
gas plants, the trains to be hauled and the shops to be run
by power thus produced and transmitted short distances.
This was before the possibility of long-distance transmis-
sion by alternating current was demonstrated. There was
no visible limit to the extension of this general idea.

In 1887 the Fuel Gas and Electric Engineering Com-
pany was organized and experiments were begun in mak-
ing fuel gas. Westinghouse enlisted some able engineers
and spent money and energy with his habitual courage, not
to say prodigality. Mr. Emerson McMillin seems to have
proposed rearranging and using existing gas works and was
retained as consulting engineer of the new company. Mr.
Samuel Wellman (past-president, The American Society Me-
chanical Engineers) designed the general arrangement of
a very complete experimental producer plant, and was ac-
tive in the enterprise and passed upon all plans before the
work was begun. Mr. Alex M. Gow, now of the Oliver
Iron Mining Company, was one of the engineers employed.
An adequate laboratory was provided for the constant

FUEL-GAS EXPERIMENTS 231

analysis of the gas. The engineer who reads this will know
the competence of the men engaged in this bold and in-
structive experiment, and he will not fail to understand
the lavish completeness of the apparatus provided. This
is not the place to go into the technical details, interesting
and informing as they are. The result was one of West-
inghouse's great contributions to the scrap-heap and the
further education of a few men who have been important
in engineering and industrial history.

The obvious and familiar suggestion is made that the
controlling factors in the scheme might have been tested
by detached experiments on a small scale. Mr. Gow writes:
"The answer is, Mr. Westinghouse rarely did things that
way. He was an 'incorrigible optimist.' He experimented
on a full-size scale and backed the faith that was in him
to the limit. Once having put his hand to the plough —
and he was usually driving at least a dozen furrows at a
time — he never looked back, never was discouraged, and
never had any regrets over past failures. This work con-
sumed months of time and many car loads of coal, and the
stand-pipe of the holder blazed like a gas well. A few ex-
plosions and a few fires added zest to the experiment. It
was hard to say what a day would or would not bring forth;
but no day brought forth fuel gas on a commercial basis."
It is interesting to recall that while the fuel-gas furrow
was being ploughed, the quick-action brake was getting
born and the alternating-current projects were coming into
being.

The costly and interesting fuel-gas experiments were a
commercial failure, but the matter was never entirely given
up. For many years Westinghouse had great hopes in the
gas engine as a prime mover and he caused gas producers
to be designed, developed, and made as a part of the prod-

232 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

uct of the Westinghouse Machine Company. The swift
and great development of the steam turbine and the turbo-
generator gradually crowded gas engines into the back-
ground and the producer went with them. These are now
but a very small element in the activities of the Company.

CHAPTER XIV
VARIOUS INTERESTS AND ACTIVITIES

LAMPS
f

THE earliest great use of electricity was in lighting, first
arc lighting and next incandescent lighting. The situation
as to invention and patents when Westinghouse entered
the field of incandescent lighting is briefly explained else-
where. Several able and ingenious men had well begun
the line of invention which led up to the established art
as it is now practised. Fundamental and controlling pat-
ents were under way in various stages. It was late for West-
inghouse to begin invention in lamps, but he watched the
field and made some interesting excursions into it.

The story of the stopper lamp is told in the chapter on
the Chicago World's Fair. It was a useful but passing con-
trivance. It could not long compete with Mr. Edison's
simple and clever little invention of the one-piece globe.
In the course of years and after great research the tungsten
lamp came — a very important event in electric lighting.
Westinghouse realized what had happened and bought
a company in Vienna which was making tungsten lamps
and which owned patents in several countries, including the
United States. He at once established metal-filament lamp
companies in France and England. The patents then
bought were of little relative value. The controlling patents
are now owned by the General Electric Company, with
licenses to the Westinghouse. Company; but the enterprise
brought technical knowledge and a commercial position,
which helped to build up the Westinghouse Lamp Com-

233

234 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

pany into a prosperous institution with sales of about
$12,000,000 a year. The Westinghouse Metallfaden Gluh-
lampenfabrik Gesellschaft, M. B. H., of Vienna, still lives
in the shadow of the Great War. It has lately been sold
to Germans and the name changed.

The incandescent-lighting system is about the most in-
efficient contrivance used by man. Of the potential energy
in the coal, about 10 per cent gets to the lamp, and the car-
bon lamp, using three or four watts per candlepower, gave
an efficiency, from the coal pile to useful energy in the light,
of from one-fourth to one-half of one per cent. The best
metal-filament lamp of today is five or six times as efficient
as the old carbon lamp; but to get back three per cent of
your coal in the shape of light energy is not a result that
engineers can be really proud of or satisfied with.
. In 1897, long before the tungsten lamp arrived, Mr.
Henry Noel Potter brought to Westinghouse's attention
a crude form of incandescent lamp invented by a German
physicist, Doctor Walter Nernst. The illuminant of this
lamp is a small porcelain-like rod made of so-called "rare
earths/' such as magnesia, thoria, and ytria. When con-
nected in an electric circuit like the ordinary incandescent
lamp, no current will flow through the rod until it is heated
by outside means. Then it becomes conductive. The heat
generated by the current flow thereafter keeps the rod in
its conductive condition and it emits a beautiful soft light,
the spectrum of which more nearly corresponds to that
of sunlight than any other artificial light. Another interest-
ing feature of the Nernst lamp is its capability of being
used, "burned," in the open air, thus avoiding the neces-
sity of using an evacuated globe.

Westinghouse at once became intensely interested in
this lamp and bought the American rights. He organized

THE NERNST LAMP 235

the Nernst Lamp Company and employed a force of en-
gineers to develop the lamp to commercial form. Many
ingenious devices were invented for automatically apply-
ing the starting heat and for controlling the current flow
through the conducting rod, or "glower," as it was called.
The electrical efficiency of the Nernst lamp was found to
be one and one-half watts per candlepower, twice that
of the best form of ordinary incandescent electric lamp
then known. This fact and the superior quality of the light
justified Westinghouse in his belief that it would be a suc-
cessful competitor in the incandescent-lighting field.

The sales of the company grew fast and the , Nernst
Lamp Company gave promise of great success. At the
height of its prosperity, however, something happened
which doubtless Westinghouse as well as others engaged
in this kind of enterprise expected would happen sooner
or later; namely, the production of the tungsten filament,
which far surpassed the carbon filament in electrical ef-
ficiency, and was more efficient than the Nernst lamp. It
soon became apparent that the Nernst lamp could not
successfully compete with the tungsten lamp of higher
efficiency, particularly as the Nernst lamp was inherently
complicated and expensive, as compared with the exceed-
ingly simple form of the evacuated tungsten lamp. The
color qualities of the Nernst lamp, although desirable, were
not of sufficient commercial value to outweigh the disad-
vantages of its complexity when confronted by the higher
efficiency and the simplicity of the tungsten-filament lamp.
Realizing this, Westinghouse promptly arranged for the
discontinuance of the manufacture of the Nernst lamp ex-
cept upon a very small scale.

Perhaps the greatest benefit to the public from the work
of Westinghouse in promoting the Nernst lamp is in the

236 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

education in proper light distribution. This subject the
engineers of the company were compelled to study care-
fully because of the peculiar structure of the Nernst lamp,
which led to placing it above the normal line of vision. The
rules governing the location of lamps established by the
Nernst Company are essentially those now followed in plac-
ing incandescent lamps. From an aesthetic view-point it
is greatly to be regretted that the Nernst lamp could not
have kept a commercial position, since no other artificial
illuminant has yet been discovered with so nearly a day-
light spectrum as that of the glowing rods of rare earths.

Soon after the Nernst lamp came the Cooper Hewitt
lamp, which still lives and in fact is in increasing use. For
years unsuccessful attempts had been made to produce
a commercially successful lamp in which an enclosed gas
traversed by an electric current would serve as the illumi-
nant. Late in 1899, Mr. L. F. H. Betts, a patent lawyer
in New York, asked Terry whether Westinghouse would
be interested in a new form of electric light invented by
Peter Cooper Hewitt,* with the result that Betts arranged
for Terry to meet Hewitt at his laboratory in the Madison
Square Garden Tower. The lamp shown by Hewitt was
startling. For a long time Hewitt had been seeking to get
efficient light by transmitting high-potential, high-frequency
currents through tubes containing a gas or vapor, some-
what along the lines of the familiar Geissler tubes. One
day he chanced to connect the tubes in circuit with a di-
rect-current source while the high-frequency current was
also flowing. Suddenly the rather faint Geissler glow burst
into a brilliant greenish-white light. Hewitt's assistant
sitting in a chair near by was so startled that he fell over
backward, but Hewitt himself, who had been expecting

* Hewitt died in August 1921.

THE COOPER HEWITT LAMP 237

some such result, calmly proceeded to analyze the causes,
with the result that he had soon developed the lamp which
bears his name. This was the first effective gas or vapor
lamp ever devised. Terry lost no time in bringing the in-
vention to the attention of Westinghouse, who was intensely
interested. Negotiations, at once begun, resulted in an
agreement dated March 7, 1900, between Westinghouse
and Hewitt, whereby Westinghouse was to finance the enter-
prise and organize a company to exploit the lamp. He
personally supplied the money to carry on this work until
1902, when the Cooper Hewitt Electric Company was
formed with Westinghouse and Hewitt as its principal
stockholders, the patent rights and business being taken
over by this company.

The lamp was of very high efficiency as compared with
the best incandescent lamp. From an aesthetic point of
view it had a great drawback: the light lacked red and
violet rays and was over-rich in green rays. This gave to
illuminated objects an unnatural, indeed a ghastly, appear-
ance. The "native hue" of one who sat under it was "sick-
lied o'er with the pale cast" of dirty green. But Westing-
house's gift of intense and enthusiastic interest made each
thing absorbing and delightful, if not beautiful, while he
was at it, and when one is writing of his relations to any one
matter there is temptation to exaggerate its place in his
mind. We can only get a proper perspective when we re-
member that there were half a dozen such absorbing things
in every twenty-four hours. The Cooper Hewitt lamp ap-
pealed to him by its originality and by the technical in-
genuity displayed. He not only pushed it commercially
but he played with it. One was flooded with its ghastly
green rays in the most unexpected places. The ladies would
not tolerate it in the drawing rooms, but he put it in his own

238 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

offices. When Charles Francis Adams got back to Boston
from a meeting in New York he wrote to Westinghouse :
"I was shocked by your appearance. You really ought
to take a vacation." Westinghouse answered: "I wish you
could see how you looked." The absence of the red and
violet rays made the light far less tiring to the eye than
that of other artificial illuminants, and it found large use
in machine shops, drafting rooms, printing establishments,
government buildings, and other large places where good
and cheap light is more important than true color effects.
Hewitt later devised an ingenious means for transforming
some of the rays into red rays and blending these with the
others, thus producing an excellent imitation of daylight
where such result was important.

An interesting characteristic of the Cooper Hewitt lamp
is that the current flow must be initiated by overcoming
what Hewitt aptly termed a "negative electrode reluc-
tance." This was accomplished automatically, and once
the current flow is established, this reluctance, or resist-
ance, remains in abeyance so long as the flow is in a
given direction, and it is prohibitive to current flow in
the reverse direction. This peculiar characteristic made
the lamp inoperative on a single-phase alternating-current
circuit, for the lamp would "go out" at the cessation of
each positive impulse, or several thousand times a minute.
To overcome this difficulty Hewitt made a lamp with three
positive electrodes acting in conjunction with a single nega-
tive electrode. When these positive electrodes were con-
nected with the three conductors of a three-phase alternat-
ing source, current would flow at all times into the nega-
tive from one or more of the positive electrodes, thus keep-
ing the negative continuously "alive." Various means
were later devised adapting the lamp to two phases de-

MERCURY ARC RECTIFIER 239

rived from a single-phase current, and it thus became a
commercial device for single-phase alternating circuits
also.

The fact that the flow of the current through the con-
ductor connected with the negative electrode was always
in a given direction gave Hewitt the idea of utilizing this
characteristic for rectifying alternating current for use as
direct current. This led to the development of the Cooper
Hewitt rectifier. The commercial value of this rectifier
promised to be great, and as the original agreement between
Westinghouse and Hewitt related only to the lamp, a sup-
plemental agreement was made in 1902 to include the rec-
tifier. This device consists essentially of an exhausted glass
globe containing multiple positive electrodes and a single
negative. The principle of operation is the same as that
of the alternating-current lamp, but the construction is
such that very little energy is absorbed in the production
of light. The rectifier soon became a standard product
of the Cooper Hewitt Company.

In 1913 license agreements were entered into between
the Cooper Hewitt Company and the Westinghouse Com-
pany, and between the latter and the General Electric
Company, whereby these two companies secured licenses
to manufacture and exploit the rectifier, paying suitable
royalties to the Cooper Hewitt Company. An agreement
was also made between the Cooper Hewitt Company and
the General Electric Company providing for the exchange
of licenses on the lamps, the latter company having mean-
while secured a number of patents of value in that field.
These arrangements still continue, although since the death
of Westinghouse the General Electric Company has bought
the control of the capital stock of the Cooper Hewitt Com-
pany. So the manufacture of the lamp and the rectifier

240 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

goes on in growing volume. Westinghouse, as an incident
in his work, or as a by-product, had founded another en-
terprise.

MULTIPLE-UNIT CONTROL

It is elementary in the art of land transportation that
when the volume of traffic is large enough there is gain in
massing the cars into trains. This situation began to ap-
pear quite early in electric transportation in and about
the large cities. Very little thought makes clear the ad-
vantages of having a motor under each car, and with elec-
tric traction that is possible. When every wheel in a train
is a driving wheel great tractive power is secured without
concentration of weight destructive to the track. In city
and suburban traffic, where stops must be frequent, this
is especially important, for it makes it possible to get up
to speed quickly. Obviously it is essential that all of the
motors in a train should be controlled from the head of the
train, and these conditions were met by the invention and
development by Mr. Frank J. Sprague of a fundamentally
new system of electric train make-up and operation which
he called the "multiple-unit system."

This provided for the individual equipment of cars and
locomotives with motors, and main controllers therefor,
and a train line, with coupler and master controllers, in
such fashion that any number of wholly or partly equipped
units could be assembled in any order or sequence, and
then controlled by like movements, relative to the track,
of the master controller from the head of any car. This
made it possible to get the maximum of train and track
capacity.

Mr. Sprague had the foresight and ability as an engineer
and inventor to not only devise means for the practical

MULTIPLE-UNIT CONTROL 241

application of the principles involved but to see the pos-
sibilities of its influence upon a comprehensive system of
electric traction.

The system was first used on the South Side Elevated
Railroad in Chicago in 1897, and its success led to the ulti-
mate adoption of this general method of control, modified
in details, on all electric roads where two or more motor
units are operated under a single control.

Westinghouse saw clearly what was coming in the great,
new field of electric traction, and the advantages to the
electric companies, to the inventor, and to the public of
participation by both the Westinghouse and the General
Electric Companies in the inventions of Mr. Sprague. The
great cost of duplication in invention and development
might thus be avoided, and the companies would still com-
pete in manufacture and sale, while the product would not
be loaded with an unnecessary charge. He suggested a
plan of participation which was not acceptable. West-
inghouse did not take his troubles lying down, and while
retaining the essential principles of the multiple-unit sys-
tem, he proceeded to develop the application of electrically
controlled pneumatic equipment as an alternative to the
all-electric Sprague apparatus.

In 1898, a few months after the failure of diplomacy to
save waste, the electropneumatic control was in service on
the Brooklyn Elevated Railway, and it is still there, work-
ing well. The long and exacting experience of Westing-
house in electropneumatic work, particularly in handling
switches and signals, had prepared him for this situation,
and he had already developed the essential elements, but
there were new features of extraordinary ingenuity.

A few years later came the necessity of devising a con-
troller for the subway equipment in New York. Larger

242 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

volumes of current were to be handled here than in any
existing installation, and the subway engineers thought
that the "drum" type was inadequate. With this the
Westinghouse engineers did not agree and proposed- to
adequately change the electropneumatic drum-controller.
The General Electric Company brought out a new design
which they called the "plunker" type, and it soon became
pretty clear that the drum-controller would not be accepted.
Westinghouse was suddenly face to face with the sort of
situation which he most enjoyed — a radical change of tac-
tics in the face of the enemy. The writer of these lines had
the privilege of getting a glimpse of the beginnings of this
change of tactics. It was in a night ride from New York
to Pittsburgh in Westinghouse's car. For a large part of
the night he worked, drawing and erasing, brooding and
drawing. In the morning he had a set of sketches ready
for the shops at the air-brake works. This was the birth
of the "turret control." In a few weeks the equipment
for a train was built and tested, and it was a working ap-
paratus. .As an example of speed, resource, skill, and suc-
cess, the incident was as interesting as the classic episode
of the quick-action brake, although of nothing like the same
importance.

The first order for the subway controller equipment went
to the General Electric Company, but a great many electro-
pneumatic controllers have since been supplied to the heavy
traffic electric systems in and about New York. Both types
persist, but the preponderating opinion seems to favor the
electropneumatic type.

CAR, AIR, AND ELECTRIC COUPLER — COMBINED

The conditions of heavy subway traffic led to the inven-
tion of an automatic combined coupler. The object is thus
told in the patent specification:

COMBINATION COUPLERS 243

My present invention relates to couplings for the con-
nection of railroad vehicles; and its object is to provide
an appliance for automatically coupling railroad vehicles
for the purpose of draft, with which there may be combined
means for coincidently and automatically coupling lines
of fluid-pressure pipes for the operation of brake and steam-
heating apparatus, etc., or for coupling electric conductors
for the conveyance of electricity for light, power, and brak-
ing purposes and for signalling, or both of such means.

In the coupler heads, passages are introduced to carry
air from one car to another, and electric conductors are
also introduced. When the cars are coupled the necessary
connections and contacts are made automatically between
these passages and conductors. By the use of this coupling
device all manual operations in uniting cars of the train
are dispensed with, the air connections and electric circuits
being automatically established when the car-coupling is
effected. One can imagine some of the mechanical difficul-
ties involved in an apparatus so complicated and doing
automatically such a variety of things. Obviously they
must be done reliably and precisely. There must be no
leakage of the air under pressure and no failure to make
the electrical contacts. These are vital elements in such
tram operation. Westinghouse perfected the details of
this invention with his customary thoroughness and energy
and satisfied himself that it solved the problem by tests
made upon a few cars that were operated by the Westing-
house Electric Company. The customer, however, was
not yet ready for it, so it was held in reserve for a demand
that was sure to come. When the length of trains on the
Interborough Subway service was increased from eight
to ten cars, better car couplings were required, and the
Westinghouse coupling with air connections was the form
selected and has operated successfully for many years.

244 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

This coupling is also used on the Brooklyn system, includ-
ing the electric as well as the air connections.

The advantages resulting from its employment are:
Greatly reduced risk to employees because of automatic
coupling of the air and electric connections; greater facility
and speed in coupling and uncoupling trains; and freedom
from accidental stoppages due to broken electric circuits
or burst air hose. These advantages are of commanding
importance in the conduct of transportation of the char-
acter required in congested subway traffic.

RESEARCH

Perhaps most of us, however intelligent and well in-
formed, have no adequate notion of the present place of
research work in industrial development. All great con-
cerns now have research laboratories and staffs of highly
educated and trained investigators who have no direct re-
lations with production and sales. They are part of the
"overhead." They cost much money and the results of
the expenditure are often obscure. They are essentially
modern. In old-time British foundries and machine works
it used to be said "where there's muck there's money."
Individual skill, ingenuity, and driving power contrived
the things to be made and the ways and means of making
them, and pushed production. Chemistry, physics, and
sanitation had about as much place in the process as dif-
ferential equations; but all these enter now into the manu-
facture of complicated engineering product and some of
them enter into refining oil and packing pork.

George Westinghouse saw pretty early the value of pure
research, and from the first days of the Electric Company
it has gone deeply into what used to be called experimental
work but has later taken the more accurate name of re-

ELECTRICAL SCIENCE AND ART 245

search. This is true also in principle but less in degree
of his other companies. Many years ago the writer ven-
tured to suggest to Westinghouse that if he would get
out of active work and devote himself to research, human-
ity would be the gainer in the long run and he would be
happy. He had already gathered fame and ample fortune.
He said: "Perhaps so, but think of the many men to whom
I give employment. I can't stop now." No doubt he real-
ized, too, his handicap in his lack of higher mathematics
and physics. But his gift of seeing into things went a long
way to make up for what he had missed in education. He
always gave impetus and encouragement to the research
work of the Electric Company, and they have spent very
great sums in that field; probably no more than several
other companies, perhaps not so much as some, but they
have spent liberally for the advancement of the electric
science and art, which means the progress of man.

We have said that it was in 1883 that Westinghouse be-
gan serious work in the electrical field. Already an impor-
tant science of electricity had been built up. Indeed, it
is held that the science had been founded three hundred
years before; but the applied art was still insignificant.
Many laws and principles had been established, but many
more remained to be discovered, and this was particularly
true of the possible applications of the alternating current
to practical uses. The phenomena of alternating current
had to be observed and worked into principles by experi-
ment, and that experiment was mostly in connection with
active manufacturing orders. Each piece of apparatus
brought through the shops gave experimental data for later
designs. Mathematical analysis, now greatly used, and
often with brilliant effect, was almost unknown, and neces-
sarily so for lack of facts, observed and recorded. The lit-

246 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

erature of the art had mostly yet to be written, and each
investigator had to depend pretty much on his own limited
experience. The farmer in Nebraska who sits on the fence
and thinks out a brand-new system of government or religion
while he whittles does not really need history. But if one
is dealing with steam, electricity, friction, and gravity, ex-
perimental facts are necessary, and if they are not on record
he must dig them out of his own experience. This was the
situation in the early days of the Electric Company, and
through the stages of practical experiment, pure research,
and mathematical analysis the art was built up. It was
an extraordinary privilege for Westinghouse and his young
engineers to live in the dawn of an art and to be an essen-
tial part of its development.

The reader may be interested in a few words about some
specific research work. When the Westinghouse Company
began to build alternating-current machines and appara-
tus a potential of 1000 volts was used, and the problem
of insulation at once became acute. For thirty-five years
that problem has been insistent, if not always acute; and
for thirty-five years to come it will give occupation for the
learned and ingenious specialist. That is in the nature of
things. As voltages increase insulation must be improved;
as insulation is improved voltages increase. It is the old
situation of guns and armor. The story of electricity is
a story of increasing voltages, and thus the whole story of
electrical development is tied up with insulation. And
yet the function of insulation is negative — to keep some-
thing from happening.

In a piece of machinery electric currents must be con-
fined, but the heat developed by the currents must be dis-
sipated. A poor conductor of electricity is a poor conduc-
tor of heat also, and insulation that prevents destruction

ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH 247

of apparatus by wandering currents may promote its de-
struction by confined heat. A compromise must be made,
and this is one of the functions of research. Many different
materials are used for insulations — cloth, paper, fiber, mica,
varnish, gums, enamels, oil, paints, oxides, rubber, and so
on in great variety — and all have their own peculiar prop-
erties. These must be determined and weighed by research
and experiment. The study never ends, as the requirements
ever increase, and perhaps the problem of insulation is as
severe now as it ever was; but it is believed that the West-
inghouse engineers have gone further in insulation research
than have the engineers of any other electrical concern in
the world.

A beautiful example of the combination of mathematical
analysis and experimental research was the development
of a fundamental method of calculating electrical machinery.
Crude methods were in existence as early as 1890, but they
were empirical and of very limited application. In 1893
research investigations were made while laying out the
generators for Niagara Falls. Templates were made rep-
resenting sections of the armature and field and a picture
was obtained of the distribution of the magnetic flux, by the
arrangement into which fine iron filings fell on paraffined
paper laid over these templates when current was passed
through. Study of this picture suggested an attempt to
reproduce the representation of the flux distribution by
calculation. This suggested the calculation of the electro-
motive-force wave form of the machine and this, in turn,
pointed to the possibility of a fundamental method of cal-
culation of electrical machinery. For three or four years
the study went on, by mathematical analysis and by ex-
periment, and finally a fundamental method was developed
which is the basis of the methods of calculation in use by

248 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

the company today. The essential characteristics of a
complicated and costly machine can be determined by cal-
culation, in detail, before the working drawings are begun.
It is quite obvious that by such scientific procedure time
and money are saved, as compared with the cut and try
methods, which were used when apparatus was built by
experiment and not by analysis. So far has the scientific
method been established that in modern practice calcula-
tion is relied upon entirely in the design of electrical ma-
chinery, and contracts for the electrical equipment of power
stations, railways and industrial plants are taken based
entirely on calculated designs. No error in proportions
or characteristics is permissible in the calculations, for no
check can be had upon their operating characteristics until
the work has gone so far that important modifications in
the design are not permissible. Preliminary trial machines
cannot be built, except in rare cases, for there is not time,
the huge apparatus of today often requiring considerably
more than a year to construct. Thus the accuracy in cal-
culation, based on research data, is one of the marvels of
the electrical art.

TELEPHONE

In October 1879, Westinghouse filed an application for
a telephone patent. This was followed in the next year
by three other patents designed to extend and perfect the
invention shown in the first patent. He proposed to save
wire by a system of auxiliary telephone exchanges. The
wires from a group of subscribers were carried into a local,
auxiliary exchange, and from there communication was
made with the central exchange by one common wire. The
underlying idea was to connect groups of country users
with the central exchange in a city some distance away,
but it was thought that it might be advantageous to use

TELEPHONE INVENTIONS 249

such auxiliary exchanges in cities also by grouping sub-
scribers in districts. These local exchanges were automatic
and thus, while wire was saved, the cost of attendance was
not increased. The specifications were worked out in great
detail, and a "mechanic skilled in the art," having the
specifications before him, could have constructed an opera-
tive system complete to the last contact and set screw. This
is characteristic of Westinghouse's patents. It is also char-
acteristic that he should have found time and energy to
interject into the midst of his crowding activities a subject
so foreign, and to carry it out with such minute elabora-
tion. These inventions were something for him to play
with a little while, and then drop for some other kind of
diversion. They did, however, dimly forecast machine
switching. A high authority in telephony says they "ap-
parently disclose a rudimentary form of a semimechanical
system." So far they are interesting.

In the annual report of the American Telephone and
Telegraph Company for 1919 it is said that " amongst pos-
sible improvements in economy and efficiency, the most
important is the machine-switching system which has been
the subject of constant study and experimentation by the
Department of Development and Research over a period of
more than ten years. During the past year the Engineer-
ing Department has been engaged in planning and direct-
ing the introduction of machine switching or automatic
switchboards into the Bell system. It is our plan to study
each improvement in apparatus to determine how it can
most economically be made a part of the plant. Such stud-
ies show that in the large cities machine-switching equip-
ment should be employed for extensions necessary to pro-
vide for growth and for reconstruction to replace worn-out
equipment."

250 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

We may see in this book other cases where it took a good
while for the growth of an art or the evolution of social con-
ditions to catch up with George Westinghouse, but forty
years is the longest interval that we have discovered. In
this case, the delay was merely a consequence of the reluc-
tance of evolution, and with that the judicious will not
quarrel. It was not at all a consequence of dullness or
unreasonable conservatism on the part of those who have
developed the telephone in America. They have put into
it costly research, engineering skill, commercial sense, and
imagination to a degree not known to, or even guessed by,
those who are not specially informed. In this splendid
episode of our history George Westinghouse would have
shone if he had dropped half a dozen other interests and
diligently followed telephony. He would have speeded
up the evolution of the art; but after a brief excursion he
dropped telephony for good and all.

BOARD OF PATENT CONTROL

The wide and varied business of the Westinghouse Com-
panies was making and selling engineering material. Most
of this business was carried on under patents, and it was
inevitable that there should have been a great deal of liti-
gation in attack and defense. Westinghouse was a good
fighter — bold, resourceful, and stubborn. He enjoyed fight-
ing and would have made a great general; but he was big
enough not to fight for the sake of fighting. He deprecated
the waste of money and the diversion of energy. He pre-
ferred to protect the interests of his companies by agree-
ment when that was possible. We say the interests of his
companies, not his own interests. His interests were al-
ways subordinate to those of his companies. In fact, his
private fortune was almost entirely invested in the stock

BOARD OF PATENT CONTROL 251

of his companies — not even in their bonds, except now and
then to help some plan of financing.

A famous agreement was that made with the General
Electric Company in 1896. It is told elsewhere that when
the General Electric Company won the suit in the case of
the Vanderpoel underrunning trolley, Westinghouse said:
"That's good; now there is a basis for a trade." The trade
was made forthwith, for both parties welcomed a patent
truce. It was agreed that each company should extend
to the other a license under the patents controlled by it,
to the extent that each might sell an agreed percentage
of the aggregate amount of business of the two companies
without payment of royalty, but if either exceeded such
percentage, a suitable royalty should be paid on the ex-
cess. To carry out this plan there was created a Board of
Patent Control comprising four members, four alternates,
and a fifth member and his alternate.

The appointees on the part of the Westinghouse Com-
pany were: members, George Westinghouse and Paul D.
Cravath; alternates, Charles A. Terry and B. H. Warren,
the latter being later succeeded by F. H. Taylor and later
by E. M. Herr.

The General Electric Company appointed as members
C. A. Coffin and F. P. Fish, and as alternates Robert Treat
Payne and Gordon Abbott, the former succeeded by Eu-
gene Griffin and later by Anson W. Burchard, while Ab-
bott was succeeded by Charles Neave. The fifth member
was E. B. Thomas; alternate, Samuel Spencer.

So well did this plan work that the fifth member, whose
function it was to act as an arbitrator in case of dispute,
was called upon in but two instances, and his alternate not
at all, during the term of the agreement. After the Board
had been in existence some thirteen years or so its opera-

252 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

tions were made the subject of investigation by a represen-
tative of the Department of Justice, for the purpose of de-
temrining whether the Sherman Anti-Trust Law was in
any way being violated, and it was greatly to the credit
of both companies that the Department after exhaustive
examination found no occasion to interfere with its opera-
tions. Westinghouse used always to say that he would
like to have this agreement hung on the walls of his office,
so sure was he of its fairness to both parties and to the
public. While none of those concerned doubted its legal-
ity, perhaps there were those who questioned the expedi-
ency of such publicity in the actual state of feeling about
agreements between corporations. The agreement con-
tinued to govern the patent relations until the end of its
stated term of fifteen years, which expired in May 1911.

AIR SPRING

The air brake, the alternating current, and the steam
turbine are, no doubt, of somewhat remote interest to a
good many people to whom the air spring for automobile
pleasure cars is a thing of immediate and daily interest.
In the life of Westinghouse it was a very minor matter,
but he put into it the same qualities of energy, enthusiasm,
and thoroughness that he put into major matters. For
these reasons a few words about it will be illustrative and
may be interesting, and we cannot do better than to quote
literally a letter on the subject from Mr. H. T. Herr, a vice-
president of the Electric Company. The letter was not
written for publication and is all the better for that. It
gives an intimate view of Westinghouse at work.

In the spring of 1910 I went into Mr. Westinghouse's
office in New York to keep an appointment with him in

AIR SPRING FOR AUTOMOBILES 253

reference to some important gear matters. A spirited dis-
pute was on between Admiral Melville and Mr. MacAlpine
in which Mr. Westinghouse and I were involved in bring-
ing about a settlement of the Melville-MacAlpine gear
contract, with George Westinghouse as trustee. On this
particular morning we spent a half -hour going over different
matters. I always tried to be as concise as possible with
him, and when finished I would generally say: "Now, Mr.
Westinghouse, I know you are very busy, and I won't take
any more of your time." He generally replied, "Well,
I'll call you again tomorrow or this evening," or he would
say, as he did many times: "Mr. Herr, I have a good deal
on my mind, but I like to talk to you about these mechan-
ical things. They relieve me."

This day he asked me to pull up my chair, and taking
a block of cross-section paper said: "Some little time ago
I saw a device which had interested my chauffeur at Lenox.
This device was made by a couple of men up in the country
and applied to an automobile to reduce the road shocks.
I have been interested in it somewhat and it has some merit.
It needs changing to make it successful."

He then made a sketch of two telescoping cylinders with
a leather packing on one which slid into the other. The
ends of the cylinders were closed and a certain amount of
oil was kept in the interior over the packing to make an air-
tight joint. "Now," said Mr. Westinghouse, "this won't
stand up on account of the oil leaking out past the leather-
packed piston, but I will put a pump on the inside (illus-
trating by a sketch) operated by a flapper, which, as the
air spring collapses and extends, will automatically pump
back into the inside any oil that leaks by the packing
leather." He was as usual very enthusiastic and very clear
in his description and sketches, and after he had finished
his explanation he sat back in his chair and said to me:
"What do you think of it ? " I told him I thought it would
work if the plunger pump would function. He said that
the pump would work all right and asked me if I could build
one at the Machine Company, to which I replied that we

254 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

could make anything. He said: "Take the sketch with
you and show it to Green (patent attorney of the Machine
Company) and have one made," adding that he would have
Liebau (one of the inventors) come to Pittsburgh with the
drawings, etc.

I took the sketch with me to Pittsburgh and the second
day after the conference Mr. Westinghouse arrived at the
works with Liebau. In the meantime I had started the
development of the first springs built at the Machine Com-
pany, which incorporated the pump device. There fol-
lowed a year's experimental work on the best method of
mounting the springs, the first set being placed on a car
at Homewood that Mr. Westinghouse owned, and the sec-
ond set on my own car in Pittsburgh. These air springs
were applied by the complete removal of the steel springs,
and made a wonderful difference in the riding qualities of
the car. The wear of the guides proved abnormal, and
this method of suspension was subsequently abandoned,
there being substituted therefor the application of the air
springs as an adjunct to the steel springs, as they are now
applied.

Mr. Westinghouse was a great mechanician. He had a
wonderful knowledge of and intuition for the proportions
of a device of this kind, and could with little calculation,
simply by good judgment of these proportions, have a splen-
did design produced. The fact that the present air springs
have had practically no change since he announced them
ready for commercial work is a good example of his ability
in this direction, I presume a great deal of this came by
experience in the air-brake art for a device such as the air
spring.

The introduction of a pump into the air spring made
the operation feasible and also broadly patentable. With
this arrangement many people have for long periods been
sceptical about the ability of the air spring to maintain
air under pressure in such small volumes, but the fact that
the oil seal prevents any leakage of air and that leakage
of oil is taken care of by automatically pumping it back

AIR SPRING FOR AUTOMOBILES 255

by the plunger, makes the spring a practical device. We
made a great many experiments on proportions and opera-
tions of springs, and a number of different sizes, also a great
many schemes for the suspension of the chassis of the auto-
mobile.

Mr. Westinghouse was always enthusiastic about the
outlook for this project, as it affected transportation, one
of the greatest industries in the world, and he often said
to me that the spring was not limited in its application to
automobiles, but that he expected to apply it to railway
cars as well.

In the midst of the air-spring development Mr. West-
inghouse became interested in other devices and arrange-
ments which might affect the riding qualities of automo-
biles, and we began a very comprehensive series of develop-
ments and experiments in spring wheels, cushion tires,
etc., and all sorts of appliances were tried, not only as built
by our company, but whenever a new device of this order
appeared on the market Mr. Westinghouse immediately
had it investigated, either through the Machine Company
or personally. Some very ingenious spring-wheel arrange-
ments were designed, constructed, and reduced to practice.
Mr. Westinghouse never believed in a paper design, but
insisted on its application, which very often showed the im-
practicability of devices, which on paper appeared most
promising. It was by these practical demonstrations that
his judgment was almost always strengthened for future
developments. He was extremely quick to see a situation
and to judge of the possible merits of any device.

During this development period of the air spring we were
also carrying on a very exhaustive line of experiments and
development work in turbines for marine purposes and for
the commercialization of the reduction gear; and coming
in addition to the regular business of the company, it
brought a large demand on the time and energies of the
shop, the experimental division, and some of the engineers.
Mr. Westinghouse relied on me personally to be able to
tell him about any of these developments and I found it

256 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

necessary to keep in the closest touch with them, which,
while quite confining, was intensely interesting and gave
me an association with him and a training which I would
not have missed for anything.

He had said to me many times that he thought the air
spring was one of the best things he had done. I feel quite
convinced that if he had lived its application would have
been more widely extended and its introduction into auto-
mobile work would have been accelerated quite materially.

THE STEEL CAR

In the decade before the Great War the people of the
United States saw the beginning of the steel passenger
car on railroads, and they saw its use extend quickly from
the tunnels of New York out over all the great lines of rail-
road. Westinghouse was one of a very small group of men
who initiated and brought about this event. No doubt
others had speculated about it in a more or less academic
way, but it is possible, and indeed probable, that the first
man of authority and influence, having actual responsibility
for immediate construction, to suggest and urge steel cars
was Mr. George Gibbs. Whether Gibbs first suggested
this to Westinghouse, or whether Westinghouse first sug-
gested it to Gibbs, does not seem to be a matter of prime
importance. They worked together, and Westinghouse
threw into the scale strong conviction and his influence
and force. Another powerful man soon joined the move-
ment, Mr. Cassatt, then president of the Pennsylvania
Railroad.

The Rapid Transit Subway Construction Company had
been formed to build the first subway railroad in New York.
Mr. Gibbs was appointed consulting engineer in charge of
the designing and installation of the mechanical equipment,
which included road-bed, track^ signals, and ears. Mr,

THE STEEL CAR 257

L. B. Stillwell was consulting engineer in charge of the elec-
trical equipment. They were set to do pioneer work. They
were faced with a set of conditions that had never been
brought together before. They had to consider and largely
to contrive methods and materials to meet these conditions.
Heavy and fast trains were to be run at short intervals,
calling for volumes and potentials of electric current never
before used in railway working, and this was to be done
in tunnels just large enough to take the four tracks. Only
an engineer, and not every engineer, has the background
to enable him to realize the complications of the situation.

Before the mind of Mr. Gibbs arose the danger of fire
with wooden cars, in case of a wreck or a short circuit. He
talked often with Westinghouse about the danger and the
possible precautions. Westinghouse asked why steel cars
should not be used. At that time there were no railroad
passenger cars built entirely of steel, and no one had seri-
ously proposed them. Mr. Gibbs replied that he thought
that a practicable steel car could be built, but the tunnel
construction was well advanced and the time was short
in which to design a car from the ground up and get it built,
in quantity, for the opening. A great number of details
must be worked out to get a car of acceptable weight, cost,
appearance, and performance, going back to shapes not
then made by the mills and involving new dies, rolls, and
patterns. He had designed a wooden car, metal-sheathed
outside and sheathed underneath with fireproof material.
He proposed to install all wiring in fireproof conduits and
to suspend all apparatus below and out of contact with
the underfloor. It was recognized that this did not fully
meet the case, but it did diminish the fire risk.

Westinghouse was urgent and ready to help, and Mr.
Gibbs undertook to design a sample steel car. He talked

258 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

with Mr. Cassatt, who faced the same problem in the proj-
ect for electrical operation of the tunnels into New York.
Mr. Cassatt at once fell in with the plan and offered to
have the car built at cost in the Altoona shops of the
Pennsylvania. The car was designed and built. To save
time, commercial shapes were used. Consequently, the
car was not handsome, and it was too heavy to be finally
acceptable; but it was the basis of a redesign. There was
strong opposition to the innovation, not only amongst the
subway people but in the shops where the car was built;
but the hearty indorsement and reliable cheerfulness of
Westinghouse were always sustaining, and the practical
support of Mr. Cassatt was a great help. The interest of
two of the most important car-building companies was
aroused. They consented to make propositions to build
300 steel cars and to guarantee their delivery within a cer-
tain date at a reasonable price — about 10 per cent more
than a wooden car.

Thus assured, Gibbs recommended that the first equip-
ment of the subway should be all-steel cars. Of course
there was a fight, and a hard one. Those who believed in
the present expediency, if not the final superiority of fire-
proofed wooden cars, were many and strong and well in-
trenched. The matter got into the daily newspapers, and
one great journal pointed out the appalling prospect of
dreadful electric shocks to passengers imprisoned in a steel
car charged with high-tension current. But the steel car
won. Gibbs says: "Without Mr. Westinghouse's con-
fidence and encouragement, and his insistence upon the
safest possible construction for cars used in tunnels, and
Mr. Cassatt's progressive policy in the same direction, it
is evident that steel cars might not have been in general
use today. Credit should be given also to Mr. Belmont

REDUCING COPPER ORE 259

(President of the Subway Construction Company) for his
willingness to undertake what must have seemed to him
to be an expensive experiment for the sake of providing
the safest possible equipment."

COPPER

It seemed to Westinghouse that it would be an excellent
thing if the Westinghouse interests could have their own sup-
ply of copper, or; at any rate, a supply. When the yearly
output of a concern making electrical machinery runs into
scores of millions of dollars, the item of copper bought is
big. Obviously, with mines of its own the manufacturing
company can have some control over prices, or at least share
in the profits of high prices. When Westinghouse ventured
into copper-mining, as in many other cases, he did not ask
the Electric Company to risk company money; he risked
his own. Naturally, a part of his venture was in search of
new methods of reducing lean or refractory ores. That
was inevitable with his temperament. Furthermore, to
buy developed mines and to work them by familiar and
customary methods would take too much capital, and would
leave too small a margin of profit over interest charges, if
any. To look for great unknown deposits of rich ore was
a slow and uncertain way of attacking the situation; but
there was always the chance of finding new ways of han-
dling ore now unprofitable. In the same spirit Edison spent
millions in trying to win the iron from the lean ore of the
old mines of New Jersey by an elaborate and costly scheme
of magnetic separation.

Westinghouse bought heavily in remote copper fields
in southern Arizona where the ore was refractory, the haul
to a railroad was long and hard, and water was scarce; con-
sequently the purchase price was relatively low. In the

260 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

plant at Pittsburgh which had been built for his fuel-gas
experiments he began experiments with a new process for
reducing copper ore, and he spent much money there, his
own money, not the company's. He bought an old copper
mine in Vermont as a convenient source of ore for experi-
ment.

The net result is summed up in a cablegram which is
a classic in the Westinghouse traditions. His multitudinous
foreign enterprises, British and Continental, required the
help of many strong financiers, and the Rothschilds had
some part in them. This led to pleasant personal relations
with several members of the family. When dining with
Lord Rothschild at Newcourt, Westinghouse told of the
process for reducing copper ore which he was working out
at Pittsburgh. Lord Rothschild was particularly interested
in this, and asked to be kept informed of the results of
the experiments. A story was told at this dinner of a Chi-
cago gentleman given to exaggeration and somewhat con-
scious of its perils. It was related that at another dinner-
party a man had described the hothouses of the Duke
of Portland at Welbeck. The gentleman from Chicago
said they could not compare in size with those of his
cousin. One of these was 400 feet long, 300 feet high, and
(then a friend kicked him under the table) — and two feet
wide. Westinghouse went back to America. Months later
his associate in London, Lukach, who was in relations with
Lord Rothschild, and who had told the hothouse story,
received this cable: "Process two feet wide. Westing-
house." All the code books in the office were searched in
vain, but finally Lukach remembered that Westinghouse
had promised to cable the result of the copper process.

Failing the development of a magic process for reducing

ARIZONA MINES 261

refractory ore, the Arizona mine has not been profitable
except during the short period of war prices for copper,
but it is not without value, and is a part of the Westing-
house estate.

CHAPTER XV
EUROPEAN ENTERPRISES

WESTINGHOUSE'S plans for commercial expansion in-
cluded the world. These vast plans must have become
somewhat definite pretty early hi his career. We have
seen that three years after the air brake was started in
America he was in England, and that within another year
a Pennsylvania company was formed to handle export busi-
ness. Nine years later the first English company was or-
ganized. This was soon followed by German, French, and
Russian brake companies, and later by the brake companies
of Italy and Australasia. As the electric field opened up,
another group of Westinghouse companies spread over
Europe. We find listed some twenty-two foreign com-
panies, including a Hungarian automobile company.

Westinghouse wrote: "I have never had much difficulty
in working out plans, but my greatest difficulty seems to
have been in finding enough men to carry out such plans."
It will be recalled that young Napoleon could not find a
man in Italy, and the Pharaohs had to import ability from
Asia. This difficulty in finding men is common to the hu-
man race. Lord Fisher said "the secret of efficiency is
favoritism," which, being interpreted, is "when you find
capacity grab it and push it forward, regardless of age or
rank." This principle appealed to Westinghouse's prac-
tical common sense, and he acted on it often. Yet he was
loyal to his men and had a punctilious sense of justice. He
kept some men too long in high places, and he injected into
the organizations some men who had later to be ejected —
he being human

262

EUROPEAN COMPANIES 263

In 1896 Westinghouse wrote a letter to an officer of the
Westinghouse Electric Company, Limited (called the Lon-
don Company), setting forth in some detail his idea of a vast
scheme of foreign companies. At that time there existed, be-
sides the London Company, the Westinghouse Brake Com-
pany, Limited, in England, and the Westinghouse Bremsen
Gesellschaft, in Germany, all having broad territorial rights.
The London Company was registered in 1889. The West-
inghouse Electric Company (American) transferred to it
all its patent rights for the whole world outside of North
and South America. This was a trading and constructing
company. It did not manufacture, but did install ma-
chinery on contract. The three brake companies, Amer-
ican, English, and German, covered the world, trading with-
in their defined territories. The 1896 plan contemplated
the formation of new companies — British, French, Belgian,
German, Russian, and Austrian (to include the Balkan
States). Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland, "should prob-
ably be reserved for the Westinghouse Company (British)
as part of its territory." Italy is not mentioned in this
letter but an Italian brake company was formed in 1906,
and an electric company in 1907. These European com-
panies and the parent companies in America were to take
care of the habitable globe.

Trade relations within the companies were provided for.
It might be advantageous for one company to sell or con-
struct in the territory of another. This might be done on
payment of a stipulated percentage fee. Patent rights
were to be exchanged, as were drawings, plans, specifica-
tions, and engineering and manufacturing information.
The shops and equipment of the Westinghouse Electric
& Manufacturing Company and the Machine Company
at East Pittsburgh were designed for the manufacture,

264 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

not only of electrical material but of locomotives, steam
and electric, and of stationary engines, steam and gas. The
companies were prepared to contract for complete instal-
lations of shops and city railways. It was proposed to put
the capacities and experience of the American companies
at the service of the European companies. In short, it was
proposed to provide for the most complete cooperation
that jealous and narrow-minded men and broad and gen-
erous men are capable of.

Any man could dream such a dream, but not many men
have the courage to try to make it come true, and the men-
tal and moral forces to effectively back their courage.
Westinghouse lived to see most of this dream become a
solid reality.

In the plan of 1896 Canada was not included. In Oc-
tober 1896, the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (United
States) began the purchase of land, buildings, and machinery
in Hamilton, Ontario, with a view to the manufacture of
brakes, and in the January following the Westinghouse
Manufacturing Company, Ltd., was incorporated under
the laws of Canada. In July 1903, the Canadian West-
inghouse Company, Ltd. was chartered, and took over all
the Westinghouse interests and operations in Canada —
electrical, steam engineering, and air brake. This com-
pany still exists, strong and prosperous.

The British Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing
Company was organized in 1899. It built great and
famous shops at Manchester, and became an important
producer. It is counted amongst Westinghouse's mistakes.
It was never successful financially and was a heavy burden
upon the home company and upon Westinghouse person-
ally. Nevertheless, it was a striking example of his pre-
science. Mr. Paul D. Cravath, who for many years was

THE BRITISH COMPANY 265

closely associated with Westinghouse, speaking to a gather-
ing of the veterans of the Air Brake Company, said:

I am sure none of us has ever known a man who com-
bined faith, imagination, and courage as they were com-
bined in George Westinghouse. Those who are familiar
with his enterprises are constantly finding new evidence
of these qualities. A very interesting, almost dramatic,
instance came to my attention in London during the last
year of the war. I presume that most men would look
upon the British Westinghouse Company enterprise as
one of Mr. Westinghouse's failures. In one sense it was a
failure. Yet the conception out of which that enterprise
grew was the conception of a great man, although a man
whose vision, imagination and courage carried him beyond
the limits of prudence and business discretion. About two
years ago perhaps the strongest group of industrial leaders
in Great Britain made up their minds to enter the electrical
field. They bought the British Westinghouse Company.
One day during the last year of the war one of these men
asked me to spend an evening with him and four or five
of his associates and give them such information as I could
about the early history of the British Westinghouse Com-
pany. Their leader asked me to explain to them the
reasons that prompted Mr. Westinghouse to organize the
British Westinghouse Company and build the great works
at Manchester which until the outbreak of the war were
larger than the business that the company had been able
to secure would justify. I tried to give them Mr. West-
inghouse's conceptions as I remember them: that the alter-
nating current was sure to become the foundation of all
central-station development; that England was an ideal
field for the extensive use and distribution of electricity;
that on a large proportion of the railroads the traffic was
so dense that they were practically suburban roads accord-
ing to American standards; that the most economical
method of providing electric power for the United Kingdom
was by great generating stations near the coal mines so

266 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

that instead of distributing coal, electricity would be dis-
tributed; that instead of many central stations scattered
all over the country there should be few; that as the finan-
cial structure of the railroad enterprises of Great Britain
was such that they would find it difficult to raise new
capital there should be separate organizations, separately
financed, for developing the electrical power and selling
it to the railroads. When I had finished my story the
leader of the group to whom I was talking turned to his
associates and said with real emotion: "This is most re-
markable. The vision of Mr. Westinghouse is almost word
for word our vision. The plans that he had formed are
identical with the plans that we have formed and that we
propose to carry through," and then he turned to me and
said: "Mr. Westinghouse's conception of what should have
been done was faultless. It was his misfortune that he
was a quarter of a century ahead of the times. If Great
Britain had accepted his advice countless millions of waste
would have been saved. It will now be necessary to scrap
enormous investments in un-economical plants to make
way for the carrying out of Mr. Westinghouse's plan." He
added that, "so conservative, so slow to adopt new ideas
are the British people that even today the government
will be compelled to apply the spur of legislation to compel
the British nation to adopt the measures which were pro-
posed by Mr. Westinghouse a quarter of a century ago,
and which we are urging today." When he finished I said:
"You must agree, gentlemen, that while Mr. Westinghouse
may not have always been a prudent man, he was a great
man." "Yes," said their leader, "Mr. Westinghouse was
a great man."

What the newspapers of the time called the "Invasion
of England" was a mistake, but it was the kind of mistake
inevitable in the temperament of the man, the sort of mis-
take common in the history of the pioneering of civiliza-
tion. Huxley said: "The advance of mankind has every-
where depended on the production of men of genius."

CLYDE VALLEY POWER COMPANY 267

/ ••<(
Two years after the formation of the British Company

a Securities Company was organized to aid in the flotation
of the securities of electric and power installations con-
tracting with the British Company. Amongst other enter-
prises this company took over the electrification of the
Mersey Railway, and the development of a power com-
pany in the Clyde Valley in which company Bonar Law
was sometime Chairman of the Board. The Clyde Valley
enterprise is so good an example of the working out of the
central-station thought dominant in the mind of Westing-
house for many years that we are fortunate to be able to
give the following account of it furnished by the present
Secretary of the Clyde Valley Electrical Power Company:

The development of the electric power supply in Great
Britain by power companies operating on a large scale over
considerable territory, both industrial and rural, was the
direct outcome of the greater freedom from restrictive
measures granted by the Electric Lighting (Clauses) Act
of 1899. Among the companies formed for this purpose
was the Clyde Valley Electrical Power Company, which
obtained from Parliament a franchise or act in August
1901, confirming to the company, the exclusive right for
electrical power supply over the highly important indus-
trial area formed in the valley and on the banks of the
river Clyde in Scotland, and extending about 735 square
miles. This area with its shipyards, steel works, blast-
furnaces, engineering establishments, collieries, etc., is a
highly industrialized center of activity and an ideal one in
which the advantages to the general community of elec-
trical power generation and distribution on a large scale
can be attained and demonstrated along the lines success-
fully adopted by the great American power undertakings.
Such being the case it followed as a matter of sound policy
that the work of carrying out, in its initial stages, this large
enterprise should be intrusted to a company possessed of

268 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

the necessary experience in similiar work all over the world.
The contract for preliminary work, which involved the
construction of two large generating stations at Mother-
well and Yoker with 8000 kilowatts of turbo-alternator
plant and a comprehensive system of 11,000-volt mains
with substations, radiating therefrom, was accordingly
placed with the British Westinghouse Electric & Manufac-
turing Company, Ltd., Trafford Park Works, Man Chester,
then a branch works of the parent company in Pittsburgh,
U. S. A. Work was commenced in 1902, and the installation
was handed over to the operating company late in 1905,
the cost running to £480,000. .

Mr. Westinghouse took a deep and personal interest in
the whole scheme, and was visiting the works shortly be-
fore the opening of Yoker Power Station in 1905. He was
in regular touch with the company's progress, from its in-
ception onward, being a firm believer in, and indeed one
of the strongest exponents of, what is now the accepted
practice of progressive countries, viz., the large, well-
situated, central electric-power generating station with
high-voltage transmission lines to industrial centers. The
Power Company, which is, apart from municipal under-
takings, the only one operating in the West of Scotland,
is now a very large concern with three power stations, hav-
ing 72,500 kilowatts of generating plant in use or under con-
struction, 193 substations and switch houses, 285 miles
of extra high-tension lines and cables, and 45 miles of low-
tension lines and cables, and 45 miles of low-tension dis-
tribution cables. The Electricity (Supply) Bill, 1919, is
a still further confirmation of the soundness of Mr. West-
inghouse's views as to central generating stations, these
stations, under the aegis of the electricity commissioners,
as appointed under the act, being proposed at numerous
favorable sites in Great Britain with every prospect of suc-
cess.

An interesting side fact is that the cost of operation of
the Clyde Valley Company is twenty-five per cent less

FRENCH COMPANIES 269

than that of the Glasgow Corporation (Municipal) for the
same kind of service.

Westinghouse began work in France early. In 1879, he
established a little shop in Paris to make brakes. This
was ten years after the beginning of the first brake com-
pany in America, and seven years after the first British
brake company. This French enterprise was under the
English company, but the installation and first manufac-
ture were directed by an American from Pittsburgh as chief
foreman. Operations began with orders from five French
railroad companies, and in twelve years it was necessary
to find room for growth outside of the city. Land was
bought from the Duke of Orleans in the forest of Bondy,
a mile from the nearest town and about thirty miles from
Paris, and here was built a little town which they called
Freinville (Braketown) hi the Commune of Sevran. The
works are on the Canal de FOurcq, with easy rail connec-
tions with the Northern and the Eastern Railways. This
French enterprise has always prospered. Until March
1915, it was a dependency of one of the other companies;
then it became independent as the Compagnie des Freins
Westinghouse. Its war work was varied and much ap-
preciated, especially the work of precision in range-finders
and mountain guns. The works have lately been greatly
enlarged to take care of important orders for switch and
signal apparatus.

The French Company (Socie*te Anonyme Westinghouse)
was organized in 1901. This company took over from older
companies the electric business and the brake business in
France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Holland.
This is the most important foreign company after the Brit-
ish Westinghouse and the Westinghouse Brake Company.
It was long unprofitable and a burden on the home com-

270 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

pany, but after eight years or so it turned the corner and
it is now making money. It was another case of building
in advance of the market.

The Societa Italiana Westinghouse was organized in
1907 to execute contracts taken by the French company,
a stipulation being that the machinery and apparatus
should be built in Italy. The contracts included generat-
ing machinery and fifteen locomotives for the Giovi line,
a state railway. A later order was for twenty-five loco-
motives, part of them for the Savona-San Giuseppe line.
Works were built at Vado, thirty miles from Genoa, on a
fine harbor. The managing director, the manager of works,
and the commercial manager were Italians, and had been
in the employ of Ganz & Company in the electrification
of the Valtellina line. The success is partly due to this
fact. The French and Italian companies were closely af-
filiated with the British Westinghouse Company, and con-
trol of them recently went into the hands of the British
owners, the Metropolitan-Vickers Company.

The Russian Brake Company was started in 1898 to
manufacture in St. Petersburg. An engineer who went
from Freinville to help at the start writes: "The shops
were ready to commence work. We had to choose a patron
saint and erect a small permanent altar in the shops, after
which the priest came and blessed the works, sprinkling
holy water on each floor and machine. The saint chosen
was St. George and the icon represented St. George and
the Dragon." In spite of the high patronage of George of
Cappadocia (Emerson might have said it was a logical con-
sequence) the life of this Russian company was not always
smooth but, on the whole, it prospered until the Russian
Revolution — paid good dividends and strengthened its finan-
cial condition. Then began troubles which even St. George

RUSSIAN COMPANY AND OTHERS 271

could not avert. Shop management by the workmen was
demanded, and the project for general nationalization of
industries soon came. Long negotiations followed, and
they must have been ably managed by the local officials,
for the company escaped both evils. A workman was put
on the managing board and the chief engineer of the com-
pany was made a member of the Commissariat of Ways and
Communications. When the decree was issued for national-
izing the large enterprises, "works manufacturing brake
apparatus" were excepted. It soon became impossible
to carry on the business in Petrograd for want of fuel and
raw material, and arrangements were made to remove the
works to Yaroslaff, on the Volga, and then the curtain fell.
At the moment of writing nothing is known of the per-
sonnel or the works.*

From time to time various other European companies
were started: the Westinghouse Electricitats Gesellschaft,
the Societe Electrique Westinghouse de Russie, the West-
inghouse Cooper Hewitt Company, Limited, the Com-
pagnie pour les Applications des Rayons Ultra- Violet in
France, and another in Belgium; the Westinghouse Metall-
faden Gluhlampen Fabrik Gesellschaft, Vienna; the West-
inghouse Metal Filament Lamp Company, Limited, Lon-
don; the Compagnie des Lampes a Filaments Metalliques,
France, and still others.

It does not seem desirable to consider in further detail
the various European companies. The plan of 1895 was
always in mind and was pretty well carried out, but often

* A gentleman who saw the works in July 1921, writes (Sept. 20) that about
200 men were at work. " They produce some air brakes, carts for the army,
and farm implements which they use to exchange with the peasants for their
wheat, etc." The manager received 300,000 rubles a month, plus rations of
bread, butter, a little sugar, etc. He was bartering away his clothing and
other things to live.

272 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

with disappointing financial results. Writing in 1909, to
the directors of the Electric Company, Westinghouse said:
"The extraordinary growth of your business in America
required the whole time of your best officials, so that
neither they nor I had adequate time to effectively carry
out the plans outlined. Nevertheless, there was estab-
lished a strongly favorable financial situation which existed
for several years, and a manufacturing record was created
in Europe which has made the name a real power in busi-
ness." These words were written two years after the panic
of 1907 and the receiverships of several Westinghouse Com-
panies. The triumphant and audacious note of the past
years is not heard; but the old lion was still struggling to
save for his stockholders what might be saved. Large
equities were saved. All of the important companies ex-
cept the Russian Electric Company are still operating.

The results of the world plan cannot be estimated for
years to come. They will not be developed for years. It
is not at all probable that they will ever develop, as West-
inghouse hoped, into a great system of allied companies
cooperating closely under one central management. It
is not certain that such a development was ever practicable
or desirable. But those bold and varied enterprises carried
the air brake into Europe and Australasia, and so helped
on the evolution of transportation. They made familiar
to British and Continental engineers and financiers the
distribution of energy by the alternating current, and that
spread abroad the fundamental idea of the central power
station. Thus they stimulated and advanced the manu-
facture of power and pushed along the industrial revolu-
tion, the most important phenomenon of the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries.

CHAPTER XVI

FINANCIAL METHODS— REORGANIZATION-
EQUITABLE-LIFE EPISODE

THE enterprises founded and organized by Westinghouse
are using not far from a quarter of a billion dollars of capi-
tal. Their financial structures are of his building. The
capital was raised by him almost unaided, often in the face
of opposition. Those companies now stand as his financial
monument, and yet when some of his companies were in
rough and deep financial waters one sometimes heard it
said: "Westinghouse is a great inventor but he is no finan-
cier." It is a common error to try to separate the qualities
of a man into pigeonholes. It is just as reasonable to say
that a man has moral courage but not physical courage,
which is, perhaps, a distinction without a difference. They
are not separate qualities but two manifestations of one
quality. To finance Westinghouse brought the same quali-
ties that he brought to the organization of his enterprises
and to mechanical and electrical invention. He looked
out upon his world with imagination, courage, hope, enthu-
siasm, and determination. He brought to bear upon his
projects a gift for analysis; capacity for concentrated, sus-
tained, and powerful thought; broad and fertile inventive-
ness and quick resourcefulness. All of these qualities and
faculties we have seen exercised, over and over again, in
other fields of his activities; they are to be seen also in his
financial plans. But, like all strong men, he had the de-
fects of his qualities.

273

274 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

To do great things one must be self-reliant. That is a
commonplace. George Westinghouse was often too self-
reliant in mechanical things; perhaps, he was oftener so
in financial things. It is related that the board of direc-
tors of one of his European companies once rejected his
proposition. When he insisted that it was for the good of
the company and should be adopted, the chairman said
that it was the privilege of the board to determine the
policy of the company. Westinghouse replied that this
was quite true, but it was his privilege to say who should
sit in the board. He voted a majority of the stock. In
1890 a group of bankers offered to lend money to the Elec-
tric Company if they could name the general manager.
Their offer was rejected without discussion.

These little incidents show the fundamental difference
which often stood between Westinghouse and the bankers.
They would not be responsible for financing his enterprises
unless they could have a strong, if not controlling, voice
in the organization and administration. He would not
give up control to any man or group of men. There were
elements of right on both sides. Bankers are responsible
for the money of their clients. Their obligations as trustees
are more compelling than their strictly legal obligations,
if the two can be separated. On the other hand, Westing-
house saw the weaknesses of divided control, in plans and
in execution. He saw that which folks call the timidity
of capital. Napoleon said: "There is no greater coward
than I when I am drawing up a plan of campaign. I mag-
nify every danger, every disadvantage that can be con-
ceived. When once my decision is made, however, I forget
all except what may carry it through to success." Perhaps
Westinghouse had not enough of Napoleon's kind of
timidity in planning; certainly he had Napoleon's audacity
in execution. He threw everything into the attack with

DID HIS OWN FINANCING 275

perfect confidence in the quickness and resourcefulness of
his own tactics. The bankers said that he did not think
enough about his reserves.

It is said elsewhere in this book that Westinghouse
valued consultation; that was one of the reasons why he
was so well served. This is precisely true. He consulted
philosophers and bankers, administrators and machinists,
and then he made up his own mind, and nothing milder
than an earthquake could budge him. We have seen him
sitting like a rock, serene, gentle, and unmoved when
every member of the board of directors was against him.
Whether he was determined or just obstinate depends
upon your point of view. The result of such fundamental
differences of opinion was that Westinghouse usually had
to do his own financing. He did it with great ability and
ingenuity, but it may have been unfortunate that he tried
to do it at all. It absorbed a prodigious amount of time
and energy in doing what could have been as well done by
specialists, leaving him free to do things that they could
not do.

For the reasons just given, Westinghouse's enterprises,
especially during the early periods of development, were
not financed through groups of strong bankers and syn-
dicates, which is the customary way of financing large
enterprises. He secured capital for his enterprises by per-
sonal appeals, largely to his friends and to his stockholders.
In this way enormous sums of money were invested in his
enterprises by persons who relied on their faith in West-
inghouse. He had such an impelling personality and such a
remarkable power for effectively presenting his case that he
frequently secured large sums of money from men of wealth.*

* Amongst his assistants in this personal financing should be especially
mentioned his financial secretary, Mr. Walter D. Uptegraff.

276 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

Westinghouse also showed his faith in his enterprises by
investing his own money with the greatest liberality. Many
of his new enterprises were financed at the beginning with
his own funds, which he procured by selling, or borrowing
upon, his holdings of the securities of the seasoned enter-
prises which had already become successful and established.
He several times imperilled his fortune and his credit by
investing practically his entire fortune in his enterprises
when others lacked the faith to invest. The result was
that more than once he was personally financially embar-
rassed when his enterprises were able to take care of them-
selves. They were solvent, although temporarily their
shares of stock, in which Westinghouse had invested, had
so declined as to affect their availability as collateral for
the personal loans that he had incurred to finance his enter-
prises.

Westinghouse's procedure necessarily involved very
heavy borrowings both by himself and by his companies
and brought periods of embarrassment; but the fact that
the enterprises were essentially sound enabled them to pass
successfully through every period of financial stress. At
no time did Westinghouse show his faith, courage, and re-
sourcefulness more than in two or three periods of financial
crisis when almost all of his associates and financial ad-
visers had lost their faith. The result of this policy was
that although Westinghouse died with but a moderate for-
tune, he left all of his enterprises sound and prosperous.
On the strength of the foundations he had laid, after his
death his principal enterprises, and more especially the
Electric Company, were able to make very large flotations
of securities simply because the foundations were sound.
It is part of the tragedy of his life that he did not live to
see the complete fruition of his plans.

IDEALISM AND PERSONALITY 277

The more one thinks about the Westinghouse doings in
finance as well as in science and in commerce, the more
must he feel the power of a personality, and of an idealistic
personality. It would be hard to find an organization in
which personality has such a place as it had, and still has,
in the Westinghouse companies. All the American com-
panies have their veterans' associations made up of men
who have been twenty years or twenty-one years in the
service. The association of Electric and Machine Com-
pany veterans has over 1300 members. In Japan is an or-
ganization of over eighty men who had more or less training
in Westinghouse companies in America. (There are about
400 such men in Japan.) These include admirals in the
navy, officers of the imperial railways, and other men in
high position. In London is another organization of old
Westinghouse men. When these men meet for a dinner
the important toast is "Our Founder." They are never
tired of hearing about him. Adequate reasons for this feel-
ing will be apparent to any one who has the patience to
read this book, but we venture to point out one reason
which may not be immediately apparent. Westinghouse
was always working for ideals. He was always trying to
produce a perfect air brake, and this is true of everything
else that he touched. Of course the commercial result was
in his mind, but that was only incidental. Commercial
success was bound to come automatically, and so were
other desirable results, like the prosperity of his employees;
but the present thought was always to do larger and better
things. Such a spirit at the head, incarnate in a man of such
charm and force, was sure to pass down through the ranks.

While Westinghouse's head was in the stars, his substan-
tial feet were on the ground. The idealist stood, four-
square and solid, before his facts. This situation is always

278 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

interesting but it is sometimes awkward. Here is an in-
stance: A project was up for electrifying a little piece of
steam railroad with dense traffic. It was in the beginning
of that kind of use of electricity. Direct current had been
settled upon for the good reason that the methods and ap-
paratus were much more developed than for alternating
current. The General Superintendent of the railroad was
present at a little dinner-party at which Westinghouse
talked freely, and even ardently, of the advantages of alter-
nating current. As the party was breaking up, the General
Superintendent seized the writer and said: "Look here,
Mr. Westinghouse scares me to death. Are we making
such an awful mistake in using direct current ?" The com-
mercial men were scared, too, but they took the contract.
In principle Westinghouse was right, in its immediate ap-
plication he was a little indiscreet. But the blazing indis-
cretions of a bold and honest man are amongst the things
that make us like him and follow him. Nelson was indis-
creet when he went into action with his stars shining on
his breast. When his officers remonstrated, he said, "In
honor I gained them; in honor I will die with them/' and
he was killed by a sharpshooter in the enemy's tops. He
was not prudent or logical, but his stars and his spirit shone
through his fleets and saved England. High spirit flowed
down through the Westinghouse companies and left en-
during love, loyalty, and enthusiasm. A corporation can
have a soul.

In considering the financial operations of George West-
inghouse it should be remembered that they were always for
his companies first, for himself second if at all. He never
speculated. He made almost no investments except in the
securities of his own companies. He repeatedly bought their
stocks and bonds to help in their financial plans. His iden-

REORGANIZATION 279

tity with his companies was complete. He did not try to
get rich except as an incidental result of their prosperity.
One recalls the matter of certain options. He sold one of his
smaller companies, having first got options from the other
stockholders at a definite figure. He sold at a price higher
than the agreed option price. He did not pocket the dif-
ference, but distributed it amongst the stockholders whose
options he held. If he had retired at forty-five and given
the rest of his life to careful investment and to scientific
research and invention, he would have had ease and com-
fort, and have done a great deal for the advancement
of civilization. Probably he would have been alive and
active today, for he died of overwork. But we might as
well speculate on what would have happened if a glacier
had not moved. Westinghouse did what his nature com-
pelled him to do, and his financial methods, like all his other
doings, were an expression of that nature.

THE REORGANIZATION OF 1908

The organic risks of the Westinghouse method of finance,
as described above, culminated in the disaster of 1907.
The Westinghouse enterprises had spread over the civilized
world. Their requirements for working capital were im-
mense. Westinghouse paper was scattered amongst com-
paratively small holders, as has been told, and when the
severe and wide-spread money crisis of 1907 came his loans
were called. He was protected by no powerful group of
bankers. The consequence was receivership of three of his
companies — the Electric Company, the Machine Company,
and the Security Investment Company. The Electric Com-
pany was very much the largest of these. Its debt, funded
and floating, was $43,000,000 and, including its outstanding
stock, its total liabilities were over $70,000,000. A careful

280 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

student of finance and economics has written that this was
"the most considerable mercantile failure that America
has ever witnessed." The Air Brake Company and the
Union Switch and Signal Company had no debts and ample
cash, and the Canadian Westinghouse Company was in a
sound condition.

It took fourteen months to put into effect the plan by
which the Electric Company was taken out of receiver-
ship and returned to the stockholders, and in the meantime
other plans, contrived by able financiers and lawyers, had
failed. Westinghouse, more than any other man, worked
out the simple and novel plan which succeeded, and high
authority has said that nobody but George Westinghouse
could have carried it out. The plan was called the Mer-
chandise Creditors' plan, and the committee of these credi-
tors cooperated ably and loyally and with rare perception
and foresight in preparing the plan and in carrying it out.
By the plan the merchandise creditors took stock in settle-
ment of their claims, and so ran more risk than any other
class of creditors. Their courage and vision were grate-
fully recognized.

Mr. Cravath, whose broad experience in corporation af-
fairs is well known, says: "In at least two great financial
crises, when the financiers had given up the task as hope-
less, Mr. Westinghouse, by his faith, by his untiring energy,
and by the exercise of his power to influence men, which I
have never seen equalled, was able to weather the financial
storm, raise enormous sums of money, and restore his enter-
prises to a sound financial position when his critics and
most of his friends were certain that he had suffered a
crushing defeat. It was inevitable that a man of his bold-
ness should have financial setbacks, but he never suffered
financial defeat."

CONTROL OF ELECTRIC COMPANY ENDS 281

The outcome of the reorganization of 1908 is thus told
by Mr. Arthur S. Dewing: "The debt of the company was
actually decreased from $43,000,000 to $29,000,000 and
the interest charges were cut from $2,600,000 to $1,600,000.
The capital stock was increased from $28,000,000 to $41,-
000,000. A large debt rapidly maturing and carrying heavy
charges was changed into a stock liability with no fixed
charges. This, in brief, was the actual accomplishment of
the Westinghouse reorganization."

One element of this plan was a subscription to $6,000,000
new stock to get working capital. Of this, Westinghouse
himself subscribed $1,500,000 and over 5000 of his em-
ployees subscribed $611,250, a fine testimony to the spirit
of loyalty and confidence amongst the men who had worked
with him for years.

When the plan went into effect a new board of directors
was elected, of which more than half represented the bank
and merchandise creditors. A proxy committee was formed
to insure the permanence of the new management. West-
inghouse remained as president, but with powers consider-
ably limited. In 1911 he gave up definitely any effort to
recover his former controlling position and his official re-
lations with the Electric Company ceased, but his name
remains as one of its great assets. The immediate force
of his prodigious ability and of his inspiration was in a
measure lost to the company, but he had built the struc-
ture on solid foundations and it is still illuminated by his
spirit.

THE EQUITABLE-LIFE EPISODE

Westinghouse always had the confidence of his stock-
holders and of the public. He stood before the nation as
a high-minded, sincere, unselfish citizen, who was seeking

282 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

to do his duty and to be honest and fair to the public and
to the investors in his enterprises. The reputation he had
thus earned was responsible for his choice to fill a very im-
portant public post, to which he gave his best qualities of
mind and character.

All remember the bitter controversy regarding the
management of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, which
culminated early in 1905, which made and unmade several
reputations, and which launched Mr. Charles E. Hughes
on his distinguished public career. It transpired that the
absolute control of the management of that society was
vested in a young man, the only son of the founder, Henry
B. Hyde. The father was a man of colossal ability and
enterprise. It was charged that the son was using his
power over the company with its $400,000,000 of assets,
representing the savings of over 6,000,000 individuals
without full regard to the interests of the policyholders.
The leader of the opposition to the management was James
W. Alexander, the president of the society. The two fac-
tions rivalled one another in charges and counter-charges,
with the result that the safety of the great institution, and
indeed the position of the life-insurance companies generally,
was in peril. At that juncture, in June 1905, Mr. Thomas
F. Ryan stepped into the arena, and bought the majority of
the stock of the Equitable Society, having a par value of
only a little over $50,000 and entitled to earn only 10 per
cent dividends. Mr. Ryan paid for this stock $2,500,000
and publicly stated that his purpose in making the pur-
chase was to save the Equitable Life Assurance Society
from the disaster which threatened to cause untold injury
to the policyholders. In order to demonstrate and carry
out his excellent purpose, Mr. Ryan determined to turn
over the voting power of his stock to three trustees whose

EQUITABLE LIFE TRUSTEE 283

honesty and disinterestedness and intelligence should be
so conspicuous that no one could question their motives.
He chose as the three trustees Grover Cleveland, in many
ways the foremost American citizen, Morgan J. O'Brien,
the presiding judge of the Appellate Division of the Su-
preme Court of New York, and George Westinghouse.
George Westinghouse had no personal relations with Mr.
Ryan, and was chosen solely because of his reputation for
honesty, fair dealing, and unselfishness, which was of course
true of the others. The appointment of these gentlemen
was broached in an identical letter dated June 9, 1905,
addressed to Messrs. Cleveland, O'Brien, and Westing-
house, an extract from which follows:

I have purchased this block of stock and propose to put
it into the hands of a board of trustees having no connec-
tion with Wall Street, with power to vote it for the elec-
tion of directors, as to twenty-eight of the fifty-two direc-
tors in accordance with the instructions of the policy-
holders of the Society, and as to the remaining twenty-four
directors in accordance with the uncontrolled judgment of
the trustees. This division of twenty-eight and twenty-
four is in accordance with a plan of giving substantial con-
trol to policyholders already approved by the Superin-
tendent of Insurance.

I beg you to act as one of this board with other gentle-
men, who shall be of a character entirely satisfactory to
you.

I would not venture to ask this of you on any personal
grounds; but to restore this great trust, affecting so many
people of slender means, to soundness and public confidence
would certainly be a great public service, and this view
emboldens me to make the request.

Mr. Cleveland's answer so well expresses the feeling of
the three trustees that an extract from it is given:

284 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

After a little reflection I have determined I ought to
accept this service. I assume this duty upon the express
condition that, so far as the trustees are to be vested with
discretion in the selection of directors, they are to be abso-
lutely free and undisturbed in the exercise of their judg-
ment, and that, so far as they are to act formally in vot-
ing for the directors conceded to policyholders, a fair and
undoubted expression of policyholding choice will be forth-
coming.

The very general anxiety aroused by the recent unhappy
dissensions in the management of the Equitable Society
furnishes proof of the near relationship of our people to
life insurance. These dissensions have not only injured
the fair fame of the company immediately affected, but
have impaired popular faith and confidence in the security
of life insurance itself as a provision for those who in
thousands of cases would be otherwise helpless against the
afflictive visitations of fate.

The character of this business is such that those who
manage and direct it are charged with a grave trust for
those who, necessarily, must rely upon their fidelity. In
those circumstances they have no right to regard the places
they hold as ornamental, but rather as positions of work
and duty and watchfulness. Above all things, they have
no right to deal with the interests intrusted to them in
such a way as to subserve or to become confused or com-
plicated with their personal transactions or ventures.

The Board of Trustees was organized with Mr. Cleve-
land as chairman, and Mr. Ryan put before them this
statement:

I am the sole owner of the 502 shares of the stock of the
Equitable Society which I purchased from Mr. Hyde, and
no other person or interest has contributed, or has the right
to contribute, a single dollar toward the purchase of the
stock. The policyholders with whom I conferred in mak-
ing the purchase have had no connection with the manage-

WORK OF THE TRUSTEES 285

ment of the Equitable Society and their connection with
the transaction was entirely advisory. I am under no
obligation to any living man with respect to my action as
the owner of this stock.

A deed of trust, prepared by Elihu Root and Paul D.
Cravath, was signed by Mr. Ryan and the three Trustees
on June 15, 1905. This deed transferred to the Trustees
the 502 shares of the Equitable stock owned by Mr. Ryan
(the total was 1000 shares) "for the purpose of vesting in
the trustees the right to vote" the stock in such a way that
out of fifty-two directors twenty-eight shall be policyholders
and selected by the policyholders, and twenty-four shall be
selected by the Trustees "in their sole discretion." The
Trustees were also authorized to take any action necessary
to carry out the plan for mutualization of the Society. The
Trustees were empowered to fill vacancies in their own
board, and the agreement was to continue in force five
years and "thereafter so long as the Trustees shall deem
advisable."

The Trustees then proceeded to follow out the spirit of
the preferences of the policyholders and to elect as a ma-
jority of the Board of Directors of the Society policyholders
chosen by the body of policyholders. It goes without say-
ing that the Trustees acted in the broadest spirit without
in any way seeking to advance the interests of Mr. Ryan
or any other interests than those of the Society. In this
way the mutualization of the Society, that is, the trans-
ferring of control to the policyholders, was accomplished
indirectly, although under the then state of the law it could
not be accomplished directly. The foundations were laid
for the ultimate legal mutualization of the Society, which
did not occur until about ten years later. The result of the
action of Mr. Ryan and the Trustees was to end the scandal

286 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

in the Equitable Life Assurance Society, to regain for it
the confidence of the public and the policyholders, to in-
stall a sound management, approved and supported by the
policyholders, with the result that the Society entered upon
a new period of confidence and prosperity, which continues
to exist. Indeed, the Equitable episode has worked out
to the great good of life insurance in general, and every
one knows what an important business that is.

CHAPTER XVII
THE PERSONALITY OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

RELATIONS WITH HIS MEN

AFTER reading the record of the activities of George
Westinghouse, some notion of the man must remain in the
mind as a by-product. Now, let us look at him a little
closer, and we shall first consider his relations to those who
worked for him. Those relations were so close, so natural
and sincere, that they are revealing.

The attitude of Westinghouse toward the men in his em-
ploy was not that of "uplift." It was not the outcome of
any theory of sociology or economics. It was not conscious
and deliberate altruism. It was just man-to-man com-
radeship and good feeling — the most natural thing in the
world. He respected the men and liked them because it
was his nature to. He was kind to them because he was
kind. He was just to them because he was just. They
were not a different kind of men from bankers, lawyers,
doctors, ministers, and engineers. They were men and
he had lived amongst them in the friendliest relations since
he was born. Such was the foundation of his simple policy
toward labor and of his welfare schemes. When the beau-
tiful Welfare House of the Air Brake Company was opened
at Wllmerding, the writer was asked to speak for the di-
rectors before a considerable audience of workmen. He
thought that it was rather clever to point out that this was
no philanthropic enterprise — that the directors realized
that it was good business to make the men and their wives
and daughters more comfortable, and to help to improve

287

288 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

the physical and mental and moral situation. Westing-
house showed signs of uneasiness, but the speaker went
on with that complacency which sometimes attacks sensible
men when they get a chance to make a speech. When the
time came Westinghouse popped up and said that the di-
rectors recognized their obligation to the men who were
helping to carry on the job. The men enjoyed the situation
more than the orator did. Thereafter he, like Mr. Pliable,
"sate sneaking among them."

It was logical that Westinghouse should spend money
to keep the men at work through hard times. An old em-
ployee says: "Mr. Westinghouse was very thoughtful
about his men. During the panic in the early nineties,
and others following, he always told our foreman to find
us something to do. During my service I was never laid
off." A foreman of those days says: "During the panic
of 1892 many men were laid off at the Electric Company.
I laid off some of our men, but Mr. Westinghouse said:
'Get those men back to work; I am not hard up.' He was
away about three months. The first thing he asked me on
his return was: 'Did you and your men get your pay?' :
Of course this policy is common amongst intelligent em-
ployers for several excellent reasons, and Westinghouse
was too acute not to see all those reasons and feel their
force; but it is doubtful if they much affected his conduct.
His men were part of his family, and his attitude toward
them was mostly a matter of instinct.

One phase of the family feeling is shown in this state-
ment from a man who was appointed acting general super-
intendent of the Electric Works in 1888, still the days of
small things in the Electric Company. "After I had been
on the job a week or two, Mr. Westinghouse startled me
somewhat by informing me that he had so many personal

RELATIONS WITH HIS MEN 289

experiments under way at the works that he reserved the
right to go direct to any superintendent or foreman in the
shop to give instructions and confer on their work with-
out speaking to me about it. I objected strenuously to
such an arrangement; and tried to make it clear that I
could not maintain discipline when the president of the
company went over my head to my assistants with orders
and instructions which would take precedence over my
own, but, of course, it was no use. Mr. Westinghouse had
his way, and I had my troubles."

An old hand says: "Mr. Miller, our foreman, informed
eight of us men that we had to work the following day, it
being New Year's. Mr. Westinghouse put in a full day
at the works, and I can assure you we put in a busy one,
with no stop for dinner. So we finished our day's work
about five o'clock. Mr. Westinghouse said: 'Miller, those
men have worked hard today, and have not had any lunch.'
So he gave us a fifty-dollar bill to get lunch with, which
sum was mighty big in those days."

Westinghouse was just by instinct, by inheritance, and by
family tradition. In practice, his average of justice was
high. Sometimes he did not try very hard. He had whole-
some prejudices and greatly enjoyed them. Doctor Johnson
said that one good prejudice is worth a thousand reasons,
and Huxley said: "I love my friends and hate my enemies
—which may not be in accordance with the Gospel, but
I have found it a good working creed for honest men."
Westinghouse did not formulate for himself any such rules
of conduct. He never bothered himself to analyze his own
emotions; but he did not always go far out of his way to
be reasonable, although he took pride in being a reason-
able man. He closed a debate about two men against
whom he was much prejudiced with the question: "Why

290 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

do you always stick up for crooks?" The lack of discrimi-
nation would have shocked an "intellectual," but it was
final.

It would be a waste of time to try to assess the relative
value of policy and feeling in Westinghouse's attitude
toward his men, but feeling was a big part of it. He was
fond of young folks; he liked clean men; he enjoyed cour-
age, candor, and courtesy. To an executive vice-president
he said: "I want you to employ none but gentlemen."
After going through the works a visitor asked: "Where
are your old men?" Westinghouse answered, "We have
no old men; I believe in young men for a new business,"
and looking back now one realizes how young they were.
With this spirit as a foundation, there was built up a splen-
did corps of energetic, enthusiastic, and able young men,
with a fine feeling of cooperation. Amongst these young
men there soon grew up an institution famous in the an-
nals of the Electric Company — the Amber Club. This club
Westinghouse helped with money until the members told
him that it could stand alone, and he always helped it with
personal interest. He used sometimes to spend a part of
a Sunday afternoon at the club with his "boys." The roll
of this club bears many names since become eminent,
amongst them the names of four presidents of the American
Institute of Electrical Engineers — Scott, Mershon, Lincoln,
and Townley. All of those men think now with pleasure
and gratitude of the inspiration which they drew from con-
tact with the great and generous personality of their chief.
This contact had qualities which must be rare in combina-
tion. It seemed close and genial. It seemed so simple that
it was almost intimate. But there was a border-line of dig-
nity and of deep respect that wasjiever passed; never even
closely approached.

ETHICAL INFLUENCE 291

It is pleasant to look back through the years and see the
ethical effect upon those young men of close association
with George Westinghouse. It was like being with a good
father. The talk was never didactic; it was conversation.
It was always about worth-while things; never about mean
things. If gossip became too personal, he would say: " We'll
have no backbiting." An old officer of one of the com-
panies was presiding at an informal dinner at which Mr.
Westinghouse was not present. A youngster told a risky
story. "Boy," said the chairman, "you know Mr. West-
inghouse would not like that." The youngster sat humili-
ated and ashamed. There soaked into the mind of those
young men, unconsciously, not only lasting contempt for
what was off color but deep disdain for cunning and craft,
and for dishonesty, moral or intellectual. They learned,
too, to be careful not to boast. Westinghouse had a fine
fund of irony and sarcasm which he poured out on the brag-
gart with especial joy. The writer told one evening of an
adventure with Indians in the Rocky Mountains in which
he thought that he had shown unusual courage and quick-
ness of mind. Westinghouse said: "Did you ever think
that perhaps the Indians were having fun with you?"
Poor vanity ! How it curled up in his presence ! An Eng-
lish barrister once said to the writer: "English justice comes
high, but it is prime." This seemed sometimes to be true
of education by Westinghouse. The process was not al-
ways agreeable, but the result was prime. In the early
days of the electrical companies they had to put into re-
sponsible places men just out of college, for the work re-
quired knowledge of kinds of mathematics and physics
that the older engineers did not have. Even the language
was unknown to the older engineers. To such a group of
young engineers the Westinghouse Electric Company was

292 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

a postgraduate school with George Westinghouse as dean.
They were lucky fellows to come under a dean who gave
them an ethical start, not by precept but by practice.

Feeling often entered more than was judicious into his
selection of men, and, like the late J. Pierpont Morgan,
he liked to have handsome men around him, although he
did not have Morgan's unusual aesthetic sense. One day
out of a clear sky Westinghouse asked the writer: "Do I
make many mistakes choosing men?" It was a hard ques-
tion to plump at a hired man in that abrupt way. We all
knew that he had made many such mistakes, and a few
serious ones, and a careless answer might call for specifica-
tions. He probably would say: "I suppose I made a mis-
take in hiring you." The answer was: "With your quali-
ties and experience, you ought to make none, but you are
often quick on the trigger." He mused a few minutes. At
such times it was interesting to watch his face, and try to
guess what was going on. Presently he said: "Yes, there
was So-and-so, whom I thought of for the head of such a
company. I asked him to stay with me a couple of weeks,
and I found that he had no business in him." Nothing
more was said. So-and-so was a man of distinguished so-
cial position and of some achievement, but his selection
for one of the most important places that Westinghouse
had to give would have been unfortunate, perhaps dis-
astrous.

Of course he had parasites, sycophants, and flatterers.
What man of place and power ever escaped them? He
was not always entirely immune to them, he having some
trace of human vanity, but we think of no case where their
influence lasted long or did much harm. He used to say
that he saw well when the lights were out. We knew that
he sometimes put incompetent men into high positions, and

CHARM AND HUMOR 293

that his instinctive loyalty sometimes kept men long after
their unfitness had become notorious. But this was not
altogether damaging to the organizations. It is funda-
mental that loyalty in an organization must begin at the
top. If an administrator expects loyalty in his staff he
must be loyal to the staff. Few leaders can have had
greater loyalty from his followers. "Once a Westinghouse
man, always a Westinghouse man/7 was the motto of his
associates; and few were the instances where one who had
enjoyed his friendship and confidence failed him. As one
of his lieutenants who took exception to certain of his plans
said after an interview which had promised to be stormy:
"When the old man looks at you with that smile of his,
there is nothing you will not do for him."

With his soft voice, his kind eyes, and his gentle smile,
he could charm a bird out of a tree. It is related that in
a knotty negotiation it was suggested to the late Jacob
H. Schiff, then the head of a great banking-house, that he
should meet Westinghouse. "No/7 said the astute old Jew,
"I do not wish to see Mr. Westinghouse; he would per-
suade me." His gentle and always ready humor was a help
even in the process of persuading or charming bankers.
But it was not always gentle. In one of his British enter-
prises he decided to accept the help of the X Company.
He told Lord Blank, with whom he had been negotiating
in the same matter, and was warned that the X Company
were greedy people who demanded exorbitant terms for
their financial support. Westinghouse said that he quite
agreed that they were greedy, for they were asking nearly
as much as Lord Blank himself wanted.

Lord Cromer said: "I should term most of the leading
British officials in Egypt humanitarians under any reason-
able interpretation of that term, but the responsible nature

294 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

of their position naturally obliges them to look at the ques-
tions with which they have to deal from many and not
from merely one point of view." He stated a broad prin-
ciple, applicable indeed to all responsible men, with the
exceptions inevitable to all general principles. At the mo-
ment we may apply the principle to great industries in
general and to the Westinghouse Companies and George
Westinghouse in particular. We take the Air Brake Com-
pany as the oldest and always the closest to his heart. As
the dealings of Westinghouse with his men; from vice-presi-
dents to sweepers, rested on the solid foundation of his own
nature, they were simple and consistent, generous and
broad. These dealings, like all of the other doings of this
self-reliant man, flowed naturally from his own character.

From the organization of the Air Brake Company in
1869 to this day, there has been a steady policy in all of
the Westinghouse Companies of cooperation with the
men, for the spirit of George Westinghouse still abides
there. The "open shop" has been maintained in all of
the Westinghouse organizations. It has often cost money
and trouble, of course, but there has been no departure
from the principle. And the shop has been really open.
No man has been discriminated against because he was
a union man or a non-union man. Even I. W. W. agita-
tors and organizers have been treated with uniform toler-
ance. Presumably, an arrogant or narrow-minded fore-
man or superintendent has cropped up here and there; but
the writer, having a broad and intimate knowledge of the
companies, has no doubt of the scrupulous fairness with
which the open-shop principle has been followed.

It is generally accepted that Westinghouse started the
Saturday half-holiday in large works in the United States,
having seen its operation in England. Whether or not that

BUILDS WILMERDING 295

is exactly true, he was the pioneer in the Pittsburgh dis-
trict. On June 1, 1881, he announced the Saturday half-
holiday in the Air Brake Works, and it was an established
custom in all his other plants as they came along. To us
now, the chief interest is that the innovation is an exam-
ple of the feeling of the innovator.

Westinghouse had no gift for abstract speculation, and
it did not interest him. His thoughts on welfare were al-
ways in concrete terms. A veteran officer of the Air Brake
Company writes: "Mr. Westinghouse said that in his judg-
ment one of the most serious problems in the development
of the country along right lines was the proper housing
of the masses that were flocking to our industrial centers.
He intimated that he had given the question much thought,
and, if his affairs permitted, would be glad to attempt its
solution along business lines, and yet in the spirit of the high-
est and most practical philanthropy." In 1889 the Brake
Works were moved from Allegheny (now part of Pitts-
burgh) to a site about fourteen miles east of the city, on the
Pennsylvania Railroad, in the Turtle Creek Valley. There
the town of Wilmerding was built around the new shops.
It is as distinctly a brake town as Crewe is a London &
Northwestern Railway town, or Essen a Krupp town. The
company still owns more than half the houses after selling
many to employees on monthly instalments. It has helped
generously in town matters — in building and supporting
schools, churches, and parks, but it has refrained carefully
from attempts to influence town politics. Radical social-
istic influences have sometimes prevailed, and troublesome
men have been elected to office, but the company has gone
serenely on, and let the radicals dig their own graves.

When the plant went to what became Wilmerding, there
was but one building on the site of the town to be. A

296 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

building plan was made, having in mind topography, water-
supply, sanitary disposal of sewage, and roads. Good
houses were built, and practically all of those houses still
stand — stanch and serviceable. They have gas, water,
electricity, and baths, and a large proportion of them have
lawns and gardens. Barracks and monotonous rows of
operatives' houses were not built. Many years ago the
company established lawn and garden contests, with cash
prizes for lawns, flower culture, vegetable gardens, window
and porch boxes, and for the best-kept grounds as a whole.
A committee of five award the prizes. Three members of
this committee are elected by the competitors, one is the
company's gardener, and the fifth is a non-resident land-
scape gardener. Thus the little town has become a focus
of taste in a commonplace and even dreary region. Con-
ditions did not lend themselves to such enterprises at any
other of the American works, but at East Pittsburgh the
Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company is
pushing forward an excellent housing plan, a little out of
the town.

The enlightened employer of labor long ago learned to
take good care of the men in the shops. That has become
so customary in large establishments as to be common-
place, and yet the means are always interesting. West-
inghouse thought much of safety and sanitation in his shops.
Standards and methods have changed radically since he
began to build, but his shops, built in the eighties, are still
modern in heating, lighting, ventilation, water-supply, and
drainage. As one walks about in them, he often thinks
that the men at work are a good deal better off than
in then- own homes. One finds there, too, little emergency
hospitals, with operating room and pharmacy, all complete
and modern, and with surgeon and nurse. Prompt treat-

BENEFIT ASSOCIATIONS 297

ment of a wound often saves long disability or the loss of
an arm, or perhaps a life. It adds to the well-being of the
man and to the wealth of the nation, and the employer
knows that it is money in his own pocket, so his altruism
rests on a solid base.

Benefit associations have always existed in the Westing-
house shops — that goes without saying. Ordinarily, they
are financially quite independent of the company, which,
however, bears the expense of administration and medical
examinations. There, except for moral support, the com-
pany's part ends. Monthly assessments of 50 cents to
$1.50, graduated by wages, have, in the case of the Brake
Company, built up a surplus of over $86,000 in seventeen
years. Originally, both sick and accident benefits were
paid to members, but two years before the passage of the
Workmen's Compensation Act in Pennsylvania, the Air
Brake Company established a Workmen's Compensation
Fund provided solely by the company, out of which dis-
ability arising through accident received compensation
upon a much more liberal basis than that established by
the act subsequently enacted and, later, amended. Relief
payments are larger, and begin on the day that the acci-
dent occurs. The law requires no payment for the first
ten days of disability. The company pays all hospital and
surgical expenses; the law sets a maximum limit, beyond
which the employer is not liable. This fund is supported
entirely by the company, without cost to the workmen.

It is obvious that the cheapest and best way to take care
of factory injuries is to prevent them. The Westinghouse
Companies have been diligent and enterprising in develop-
ing the art of mill safety, and, in this, the old Air Brake
Company has been a leader. The result is shown by the
fact that now, with a personnel of approximately 5000

298 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

employees, serious accidents are almost unknown. Safety
matters are under a chief inspector and a committee of eight
employees, with, also, the plant fire chief. Each committee-
man has his own territory, but at irregular intervals he
invades the territory of other committeemen. This plan
of cross-inspection brings to light risks that an eye grown
accustomed to them might not see. The committeemen
are concerned with safety, sanitation, and comfort. They
have regular weekly meetings, and get extra pay. The
chief inspector has authority to act immediately in an emer-
gency. It is not suggested here that such things are
peculiar to the Air Brake Company or to the Westing-
house group. They have become commonplace with all
enlightened employers of labor. Any one who has been
in touch for many years with the great industrial corpora-
tions knows that in the last quarter of a century they have
had well in mind the humanitarian and economic bearings
of safety.

The most comprehensive and beneficent relief institu-
tion of the Brake Company is the pension system, estab-
lished in 1906, eight years before the death of Westing-
house. The employee pays no premium; service alone
entitles him to a pension. He is retired at seventy, and may
be retired at sixty-five, in certain circumstances. After
retirement he is pensioned. The pension is continued to his
dependents after his death. Further, and of much greater
import, if any employee, after having been a member of the
relief department for two years, dies before reaching the age
of retirement, and while still in active service, his depen-
dents are pensioned. The scheme was worked out with
the help of an eminent actuary, and provision has been
made for the payment of all pension obligations, even if
the Brake Company should become insolvent or go out of

A PENSION SYSTEM 299

business. A plan so liberal and so unusual could only be
put in force by a prosperous company.

This very excellent pension system did not originate
with Westinghouse, but was worked out with his active
and indispensable support. For its origin and develop-
ment, Mr. John F. Miller, then Secretary of the Company,
and later its President, is more responsible than any one
man, and its establishment simply carries forward the
Westinghouse spirit, which is the large thing for us to have
in mind now.

About the time of the organization of the pension sys-
tem in the Brake Company, the Union Switch and Signal
Company put in force a plan for the sale of its stock to em-
ployees. This was successful and popular amongst the
men, and had excellent results in at least two ways. The
men who became stockholders took a new attitude toward
the company, and the habit of saving spread and grew.
This was soon seen in the neighboring savings-banks. This,
again, like the pension system, could only be done safely
by a prosperous company. In later years, the Westing-
house Electric and Manufacturing Company introduced a
comprehensive and liberal plan of group insurance.

In 1907 a "Welfare Building" was put up by the Brake
Company at Wilmerding, and, about the same time, a small
but adequate building was erected near by, for women.
The Welfare Building is admirably complete, with audi-
torium, gymnasium, swimming pool, classrooms, and read-
ing rooms. The operation of the building was handed over
to the Young Men's Christian Association, and the Young
Women's Christian Association took the management of
the women's building. Thus the buildings became of gen-
eral use to the people of the valley. One result is that the
Wilmerding Y. M, C. A. has become the second in size in

300 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

Pennsylvania — larger than the Pittsburgh Y. M. C. A.
Here, general classes are carried on in a variety of subjects,
and lectures are given by specialists from all over the coun-
try. Besides these, there are technical classes for the ap-
prentices in the shops. The boys put in eight hours a week
for nine months in the year. They are paid their hourly
shop rate while attending classes. Many of the graduates
from these classes now hold high executive positions. A
similar but much larger school has long been carried on
by the Electric Company — the Casino Night School. Very
much of the same sort of work, educational and social, is
done for the girls and young women of the works and the
neighborhood.

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

Westinghouse had a considerable advantage over his
fellow mortals in his physical stature. He had a greater
advantage in his mental stature. Both were the gift of the
gods, and, if one is to do eminent things, he must start with
the favor of the gods. We often hear of the "masters of
fate." Alfred the Great and Julius Caesar are said to have
been epileptics (which we may doubt), and Alexander Pope
is known to have been a crooked and fragile invalid; but
in all such cases we find uncommon energy of will and
power of mind. It is a pretty safe general proposition that
success is a constitutional trait, and "for performances of
great mark, it needs extraordinary health." This West-
inghouse had in a splendid body, and in that body was
housed a powerful mind which worked swiftly, and without
heat or friction. He stood well over six feet and was
strongly built. When he raised his great right hand, palm
toward you and fingers a little spread, and said in a gentle
voice and with a hint of a smile, "But you don't under-

DIGNITY AND MANNERS 301

stand/' it was quite plain to the dullest mind that the
sooner he understood the better for him.

His commanding presence was not merely a matter of
size and proportion; he had the subtle quality of distinc-
tion. If he sat in a box at the opera or walked through a
crowded waiting-room, the stranger would think: "Who is
that distinguished man?" As the years went on, and his
face was softened by gray hair and ennobled by the habit
of responsibility and power, the air of distinction grew.

He had dignity which protected him from familiarity,
but he was simple, unaffected, and instinctively cordial in
his manner — what we like to call democratic, but might
better call aristocratic. His manners and his language
were exactly the same with princes and with machinists,
and with his old negro butler, which seems to be the height
of good breeding. He respected the workman and the
prince, the justice of the Supreme Court and his butler,
just as he respected himself, and on that basis rested his
intercourse with his fellow men. Along with this basic self-
respect and respect for others, went a natural kindness. It
hurt him to hurt the feelings of another. This was the
foundation of his unfailing courtesy. Being human, he was
sometimes impatient, but he remembered and regretted im-
patient speeches that a smaller man would not have thought
twice about. His self-control was such that his closest as-
sociates find it hard to recall any show of anger, but he did
often disarm his antagonist by the genial smile which re-
flected the kindness of his heart.

In the few hours of ease which he gave himself in a lif e
of prodigious toil, he was a charming companion, genial,
courteous, and sympathetic. Unfortunately for his friends,
and unfortunately for the world, he did not give himself
enough hours of ease. His life long, Westinghouse was tern-

302 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

perate in everything but work. He never smoked. Until
middle life he hardly knew the taste of wine or spirits. In
later years he took a glass or two of wine with his dinner,
and perhaps a glass of brandy or liqueur with his coffee
after dinner, but that was all. His table was bountiful
and handsome as became a man of wealth and position,
but he chose simple food and ate moderately.

Hospitality was his greatest diversion, and in this he
was ably assisted by Mrs. Westinghouse. It was their nor-
mal life to have several guests in the house, and to have a
dinner-party every night. The varied company included
distinguished men of many lands. One recalls having met
there, not merely as dinner guests, but as house guests,
Bonar Law, Baron Takahira, Earl Grey, an eminent Rus-
sian general, and Lord Kelvin, to say nothing of Americans
of the highest position. This may be taken literally, for
at least one President of the United States was his guest
as far as affairs and conventionalities permitted. For many
years such people frequented his home, drawn partly by
matters of specific business or scientific interest and partly
by the combination of dignified thought, broad outlook,
wise judgment, brilliant speculation, and gracious manner
which they found there.

It is no very uncommon thing to see American country
boys from the farms and the small shops rise to high posi-
tions and become the companions and friends of the great
of the earth. We become familiar with such careers in the
land of opportunity. It has been said that "there is no
magician like the enlightened human will," and we might
add, "when it works in the mental and moral stimulus of
freedom." So we like to think of Westinghouse as the nor-
mal result of our institutions.

Westinghouse did not work for wealth. Money to him
was merely stored energy, to be used to extend industry

A MOTIVE IN LIFE 303

and to do good. He recognized the duty of producing
proper returns to those who invested in his enterprises,
but his own dividends were constantly reinvested in the
further development of those enterprises. He might have
retired in middle life a comfortably rich man, but he chose
to spend his life in gigantic toil. He enjoyed power; but
that was only an incident in his career, not an end. Like
all noble minds, he enjoyed the approbation of the discrimi-
nating, and he was always solicitous that no reproach
should attach to the name Westinghouse; but he did not
work for glory. He had honorary degrees, but no one ever
heard him called doctor; he had decorations, but no one
ever knew it from him, and his medals were not displayed
in his houses.

One underlying motive actuating his life was perhaps
best expressed to an intimate friend while subject to the
solemn influence of a walk through Arlington Cemetery,
where now his body rests beside that of Mrs. Westinghouse.
The friend, solicitous as to the health of Westinghouse,
urged him to rest from the work which threatened to break
down even his robust constitution, adding that he had al-
ready accomplished vastly more than other men and pos-
sessed all the wealth that he could require. In a thought-
ful manner Westinghouse replied: "No, I do not feel that
it would be right for me to stop now; I feel that I have
been given certain powers to create and develop enter-
prises in which other men can find useful and profitable
employment, and so long as I am able, it is my duty to
continue to exercise those powers." The great spirit within
him could tolerate no ease but drove him forward remorse-
lessly. Morley says of Cromwell's wish to withdraw from
public life: "The inspiring daimon of the mind pre-
vented it."

We have seen in technical detail, the things that George

304 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

Westinghouse did as an engineer and an inventor. We
have seen something of his doings in organization, adminis-
tration, finance, and trade. We have considered his rela-
tions to those who worked with him and we have looked
at him physically and socially. Let us now try to estimate
some of the qualities of mind and soul which enabled him
to do what he did. Emerson said, "there is not yet any
inventory of a man's faculties." Far be it from us to try
to inventory George Westinghouse, but we may pick out
a trait here and there.

Perhaps his most important faculty was imagination.
This was of the creative rank, like that of the empire
builders, like, for instance, Clive and Cecil Rhodes, or like
that of great poets and painters. This is not to make com-
parison in degree, but in kind. He was not introspective.
He bothered himself little about his own gifts, and he was
perhaps unconsciousness of the power and quality of his
own imagination. Talking one evening, about young men
to hire and train, he said: "Get boys with physique and
memory, and you can make men of them." The reply
was, that he had overlooked the most important quality.
"What's that?" asked Westinghouse. "Imagination,"
said his friend. For some minutes he did not answer, and
when he did, it seemed as if this was an element that he
had not thought much about. Some one said that Daniel
Webster was a steam engine in breeches. George West-
inghouse was an imagination in breeches, walking about
over the face of the earth, and doing things that changed
the face of society, just as birds sing. But although not
a bit introspective he was not unconscious of the meaning
of his work. He saw in a large way the consequences of
his inventions and activities. He knew perfectly well that
he was building for nations and not for parishes. It was

FORTITUDE AND AUDACITY 305

often hard for his subordinates and associates to follow
him in his estimate of consequences, and in detail he was
often mistaken, but in the broad results his vision and his
faith were splendidly justified.

Next in rank we may put fortitude, which is courage in
adversity, and which is one of the noblest attributes of
man. There were black moments in the life of Westing-
house. There were times when his bravest associates
thought that his enterprise must go on the rocks; but his
serene courage was never dismayed. In his saddest re-
verses, the splendid spirit flamed on, unquenched.

Closely allied with fortitude is audacity, a quality less
noble, but useful in execution. Lord Fisher said of Nel-
son: "The key-notes of his being were imagination, au-
dacity, tenderness." We cannot think of Westinghouse
saying, "kiss me, Hardy," as he lay dying. He had ten-
derness, as we constantly saw, but it was shy and was never
expressed in words. He had imagination, as is obvious to
the world. His audacity was Nelsonian. He would have
"Copenhagened" the Danish fleet, or would have engaged
the French fleet at the battle of the Nile, just as gaily as
Nelson did — and, in the Nelson philosophy, "the boldest
means are the safest." An audacious youngster of twenty-
seven, Westinghouse invaded England with his still unde-
veloped brake. Fortitude and audacity won a great victory
for the brake, after the Burlington trials. His Chicago
World's Fair enterprise was pure audacity, and it was au-
dacious to fight the scientific world at Niagara.

Westinghouse's persistence was proverbial amongst those
who were near him his life long. Nothing but fate could
tear him loose from his purpose. This was shown some-
what amusingly in an affair to be described shortly, when
we take up his education. It will be seen that for thirteen

306 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

years he persisted in an engineering fallacy against high
authority. Many times the quality was costly in time and
money, but a ledger account of his doings would show an
immense balance to the good.

When Huxley first sailed into the harbor of New York,
he was attracted by the tugs as they tore fiercely up and
down and across the bay. He looked long at them and
finally said: "If I were not a man, I think I should like
to be a tug." He saw energy and power combined and
compressed. Many of us have been put to inconvenience
by Westinghouse's remorseless energy. Unlike the tug, it
did not seem restless. It went smoothly on, without efffort,
but as inevitable as the flowing of a river.

In the first chapter it is told that in a certain eleven
years, Westinghouse took out 134 patents, started six im-
portant companies which still exist, took the air brake
through its one great crisis, and, most important of all,
started the alternating current revolution in industrial his-
tory. How could mortal man do so much? We have told
of his strong body and perfect health, of his powerful mind
which worked swiftly, and without heat or friction, and
his imagination, persistence, and energy. But his gift of
concentration has not been mentioned. He could close his
mind suddenly and completely. He took a subject into a
water-tight compartment, and there he and the subject
were alone five minutes or five hours, until he was ready
for another subject. He could handle simultaneously and
without confusion or waste of energy a dozen companies
in two hemispheres. So, when financial waters were rolling
deep, he could find rest in a new kind of blading for a tur-
bine, and another sort of rest in a new friction draft gear.
Perhaps things got jumbled in his dreams, but they were
kept in their own places when he was awake; and, as

CONCENTRATION AND MEMORY 307

he had perfect digestion, it is unlikely that he dreamt
much.

It is a commonplace that concentration is a necessary
element in effective mental work, and all methodical men
try to discipline their minds to concentrate; but Westing-
house never consciously disciplined any of his faculties,
for he was the least introspective of men. Nor did he ever
have the discipline of systematic education, of which more
will be said presently. Along with his unusual concentra-
tion went unusual memory, which is a function of concen-
tration— a result. Upon the intensity and singleness of
interest must depend the depth of the impression made
on the brain cells, and that is memory. It was a proverb
amongst Westinghouse men that you must not tell the
"old man" anything that you did not wish him to remember
ten years from now. Files, and records, and memoranda
were little part of the machinery of his life. He never
carried a note-book or a pencil. Things stowed themselves
automatically in his mind, and they came out when they
were wanted. The power of association — a great help to
memory — was strong with him. Perhaps Smith, whom he
had not seen for a year, came in. "Good-morning, Smith !
Has your wife got quite well? You were wrong about the
efficiency of that gear. It is 10 per cent better than you
thought," and Smith, who had forgotten that his wife was
indisposed a year ago and had forgotten what he thought
about the gear, would be astonished and flattered.

The prodigious output that has just been mentioned,
was made easier by quick and versatile resourcefulness.
Mr. Albert Kapteyn of Holland, who had important places
in the air-brake organization for many years, writes:

It was always a treat to see him at work to solve a
problem in the workshop, drawing office, at home, or any-

308 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

where else. One could almost see the wheels go round in
his brain. His resourcefulness was something marvellous.
When one solution did not satisfy him, he had instantly
several others ready at hand, as if his brain was a store-
house of original ideas and as if he had only to take them out
as wanted. I remember an important interview we had with
some chief engineers of the French railways, who had a
favorable opinion of his brake, but they pretended that they
wanted several additional things. This one wanted the
brake to do this, the other, something else, and I had a
strong impression that they wanted to test his capacities
as an inventor, or perhaps to embarrass him. Instead of
avoiding them, Mr. Westinghouse rather enjoyed this
game, and said to them: "Gentlemen, I really don't think
that you can want such things in daily use, but if you are
interested how such questions could be solved, let me show
you!" And he proceeded then to give most original and
practical solutions of all they had asked, which made them
exclaim: "This is a most marvellous man ! He will readily
invent anything you like!" He always realized so com-
pletely the interrelation of cause and effect that it seemed
as if, to him, the apparatus was made of glass, and he
worked with the greatest ease, as if playing.

It should not be overlooked that this resourcefulness
was not limited to mechanical matters. It was shown,
time and again, in company organization, in trading and
in finance. Andrew Carnegie, who was a pretty good judge
of, men, said: "George Westinghouse is a genius who can't
be downed."

Westinghouse attacked with energy and audacity, and
he held on with tenacity and fortitude, and he was com-
pletely self-reliant. People who did not know him very
well are apt to think of him as imperious and self-sufficient.
Nothing could be further from the fact. He was self-
reliant, not self-sufficient. Morley says that "Cromwell

HOW HE CONSULTED 309

had that mark of greatness in a ruler that he was well
served. No prince had ever abler or more faithful agents.
. . . Nobody knew better the value of consultation.7'
This mark of greatness Westinghouse had too, in kind;
we need not try to estimate the degree. One is tempted
to follow further the likenesses of these two iron men — so
dominant and compelling; so tender, loving, and loyal, so
wise and modest — but such a comparison might seem ex-
travagant. We may be content to see that "one star dif-
fereth from another star in glory," and admire both stars.
The point in mind now is, that Westinghouse, like Crom-
well, knew the value of consultation, from which flowed
the fact that he was well served. He communicated to his
staff the sacred fire. They came to have a respect for him.
They served him not only as a duty, but with devotion
and esteem. It is true that the other man did not always
know that he was being consulted. Westinghouse never
revealed his whole mind — not from craft, but partly from
inborn reticence, partly from incurable shyness, partly
because his mental process was so swift that the man who
was being talked to, or consulted, could not keep up. One
was often reminded of something Huxley said about Dar-
win: "Exposition is not his forte (and his English is some-
times wonderful). But there is a marvellous dumb sagacity
about him, like that of a sort of miraculous dog, and he
gets to the truth by ways that are dark" — dark to the
slower mind. Those of us who have read a little mathemat-
ics have often met the phrase, "whence it follows," a
dozen intermediate steps being omitted; and to us it did
not follow at all. Such situations often faced the man
who was "consulted" by George Westinghouse. He some-
times rejected advice and opinion to his own serious
loss, as the greatest men have done — being human. Na-

310 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

poleon's ruinous mistake, Russia, was made 'against the
remonstrances of the men whom he consulted. In brief,
Westinghouse sought freely and respectfully the opinion
of those about him. He put that opinion through the mill
of his mind, and made his own decisions. He had one of
the attributes of genius — the capacity to withdraw into
the loneliness of his own soul, and there to conceive and
meditate, and then to act. After all, can really great things
be done in any other way? Whether the result is good or
bad, must depend on the qualities of the soul. He had this
attribute of genius and many others. It is easy to say that
a man is a genius. The term is so vague that it fits almost
any large and unusual combination of endowments. We
have tried to show that Westinghouse was a good deal more
than a genius. He was a man of balanced character, which
a genius may or may not be. He had high and simple
standards to which he was consistent. He was strong and
he was gentle. He was acute and he was sincere. Carnegie
was quite safe in saying that he was a genius and Kelvin
was quite right in saying that he was great in character.

EDUCATION

It will be remembered that Westinghouse enlisted before
he was seventeen, was mustered out at the end of the Civil
War, still under nineteen, and that he went to college
three months, and then went back to the machine shop.
There his formal education ended. All of his schooling after
he was thirteen was about a year and a half. His life gave
him an ample education in the Henry Adams sense, but of
systematic and disciplined education he had little; but from
his speech and writing no one would have suspected that
he was not university bred. This is evidence not only of
his own taste, but of the sound English that he heard in

EDUCATION AND GREATNESS 311

the home of his childhood — the Bible English brought over
by the colonists and still spoken by country folks in the old
colonies.

Some of us who knew Westinghouse well, have often
speculated whether or not he would have been a greater
man if he had had a formal and conventional education.
Gibbon says in one of those sweeping generalizations in
which he delights: "The power of instruction is seldom of
much efficacy except in those happy dispositions where
it is almost superfluous." Westinghouse was one of those
"happy dispositions." The education of the schools seemed
"almost superfluous." With the power and quality of his
mind he could easily have been eminent in physics and
mathematics. Thorough training in those branches of
knowledge would have saved him time, money, and energy.
It was a tedious and costly process to learn the hard and
fast limits of those records of experience which, for con-
venience, men call laws of nature, by actual demonstration
in the metal; but without the knowledge acquired by other
men and stored in books, it was a necessary process. The
man who could understand and intelligently discuss the
deep and subtle speculations of Lord Kelvin was not ig-
norant of the laws of nature, and Westinghouse had quick,
just, and deep perception of the relations and action of nat-
ural forces. He did things that the text-books said were
against the laws of nature, and, in course of time, the text
writers caught up with him. On the other hand, he did
things that the text-books said were against the laws of
nature, that his engineers protested against, that cost time
and money, and that ended on the scrap heap, that great
institution of which Mr. Don J. Whittemore, Past Presi-
dent, Am. Soc. C. E., once said: "The scrap heap — that
inarticulate witness of our blunders, and the sepulchre of

312 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

our blasted hopes; the best, but most humiliating, legacy
we are forced to leave to our successors, has always, to me,
been brimful of instruction." Few men have made so
copious and so instructive contributions to the scrap heap
as Westinghouse. His scrap heap is there, visible to man-
kind, and when one is in a pedantic mood, he may incline
to think that it would be smaller if Westinghouse had
possessed more of the stored learning of the ages, or had
felt more respect for authority. That is quite possible,
although even a pedant is not always safe from mistakes.
We have Carlyle's word that Robespierre was a man of
strict, painful mind; that he was a logic formula, but he
made a horrible scrap heap and eventually scrapped his
own life.

The deeper we dig into Westinghouse's scrap heap, and
the more we know of the circumstances of its creation, the
clearer it appears that it was mostly the result of courage.
He had the courage of the habit of success, and he took
risks, well knowing that they were risks, confident in the
insight, resourcefulness, and persistence that had often car-
ried him through. A considerable exploration of that scrap
heap reveals the fact that it grew largely from experiments
in which the text-books would have been of no help at all,
and the outcome of which no professor of physics could
have known by the light of pure reason. Professor Bart-
lett said: "Mechanics, in the hands of those gifted with
the priceless boon of a copious mathematics, is a key to
external nature." Granted, but it may be doubted if a
committee made up of Archimedes, Newton, Laplace, Kel-
vin, Rankine, and Bartlett, could have reasoned out the
best size for the ports of a brake valve. Westinghouse
spent many thousand dollars, and sent much good gray
iron back to the cupola to find that out, and he knew all
the time that he would find it out.

THE LAWS OF FRICTION 313

Early in his career Westinghouse had an encounter with
a certain law of nature which may have had something to
do with the hardihood of his usual attitude toward those
laws. In 1878-1879, the Galton-Westinghouse Brake Tests
were carried out in England. They are famous, and have
profoundly affected the air-brake art. They are described
at some length elsewhere in this book. One important dis-
covery made by Westinghouse and Captain (later, Sir
Douglas) Galton was that, under the conditions of their ex-
periments, the coefficient of friction rises as the relative
speed of motion of two surfaces in contact falls. But in
1781, Coulomb laid down certain laws of friction which were
confirmed by Morin in 1830-1834, and became laws of
nature. One of these laws is that "friction is independent
of the velocity with which the surfaces slide one upon the
other." The Galton-Westinghouse tests showed that fric-
tion varies inversely as the velocity. They were fully and
admirably described in three papers read before the Institu-
tion of Mechanical Engineers (British) in 1878 and 1879.
Nevertheless, recent text-books on physics say that "fric-
tion seems independent of velocity," and that "friction is
independent of the rate of motion." The truth seems to be
that the Morin "law" still holds for the range of his ex-
perimentation and that the Galton-Westinghouse "law"
holds for the pressures and speeds of their experiments,
and that the custodians of the laws of nature should use
due diligence.

Finally, while we may feel sure that Westinghouse would
not have been hampered by awe of formulae or respect for
authority, the question with which we started, as to the
relation of education to greatness, in his case, remains open
as an interesting topic for debate.

In reviewing Mr. Leupp's "Biography of Westinghouse,"
one of the great engineering journals of England said:

314 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

"Westinghouse was not a trained engineer . . . apart from
his air brake, he is more rightly regarded as a great manu-
facturer than as a great inventor or a great engineer." Pre-
sumably that reviewer would not call Archimedes a trained
engineer, or Leonardo da Vinci or Watt or Stephenson.
They never heard of Sadi Carnot's ".Motive Power of
Heat/' or of Rankine's "Civil Engineering" or Bartlett's
"Analytical Mechanics." They did not go to the Ponts et
Chausees, or the "Boston Tech," or pay a thousand
guineas to sit five years in the office of an eminent engineer
in Westminster. But they contrived to do famous things
in engineering, not to say immortal things. There seem to
be several kinds of training.

Westinghouse had one encounter with the laws of nature
which illustrates well some of the things that happened to
him for lack of training in theory, and! the laws won. It
illustrates, too, his persistence. It is known only to a small
group of engineers. In reading Lord Kelvin's philosophical
and mathematical papers, he came upon one written in
1852, which took hold of his imagination. This was upon
"The Economy of Heating and Cooling Buildings by
Means of Currents of Air." Lord Kelvin (then Professor
William Thomson) showed that by the extraction of heat
from the atmosphere by suitable apparatus, requiring 0.288
horsepower to drive it, thirty-five times as much air could
be raised thirty degrees fahr. in temperature as could be
raised to the same degree by the direct expenditure of the
heat equivalent of the 0.288 horsepower of energy. That
is, if the entire heat energy of one pound of coal were con-
verted into mechanical energy in a perfect thermodynamic
engine, that would, by extracting heat from surrounding
objects (the atmosphere), raise as much air thirty degrees
in temperature as would the perfect combustion of thirty-

HEAT AND POWER FROM THE AIR 315

five pounds of coal. Professor Thomson suggested the es-
sential features of a mechanism to do this.

Westinghouse meditated long on this principle. He con-
cluded that it might be applied practically to heating and
cooling buildings and to refrigerating, and that an excess
of power might be developed that would be available for
other purposes. He speculated deeply on the matter, and
designed some of the apparatus, and by much ingenious
and subtle reasoning thoroughly convinced himself and
more than half convinced some excellent engineers. He
drew up preliminary specifications for a patent and sent
them to Lord Kelvin. It was his purpose not only to heat
or cool buildings, but actually to generate useful power
in excess of that required to set the mechanism in motion.
Lord Kelvin, being a true and loyal friend and a scrupulous
gentleman, cabled back immediately on receipt of the speci-
fications, and the sanguine letter transmitting them: "Heat
of atmosphere cannot be utilized to generate power. To
prove this, I am writing and sending printed books." He
did not intend to let his friend make a mistake, and fol-
lowed the cable the same day, with a letter, giving refer-
ences to passages in the books. About the same time, an
engineer in the Westinghouse Machine Company wrote
to Westinghouse: "I hope it is no intrusion for me to
call your attention to a fundamental law of thermody-
namics which you appear to have misunderstood after read-
ing Kelvin's paper. I do this not for the purpose of dis-
suading you from experimenting (as I believe you would
probably never feel entirely satisfied without making the
experiments) but in the hope that it may enable you to
interpret the results which you are likely to obtain," which
showed astuteness as well as candor. We all remember
that "John P, Robinson he sez they didn't know every-

316 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

thin' down in Judee." Perhaps Westinghouse had some
such notion.

Briefly stated, the thermodynamic principles involved
are that the heat of the atmosphere may be concentrated
by expending power derived from an external source. If
the concentration is through a range of only a few degrees
a large quantity may be concentrated by expending a small
quantity of power. The heat thus concentrated may be
used in a heat engine to again produce power by undergoing
degradation of temperature; but the power produced by
the degradation of this concentrated heat can never, under
any conditions, equal the original power from the external
source used in concentrating the heat. Westinghouse
recognized the authority and the respectability of this dic-
tum, but to him it was not a law, universal and unquali-
fied, until he had seen the proof. He could not "feel en-
tirely satisfied without making the experiments."

Less than a month after his cable, Lord Kelvin wrote
in answer to further letters from Westinghouse: "You
should indeed think no more of this chimera of utilizing
the heat of the atmosphere for motive power." And again,
in the same letter: "The thermodynamic activity of the
heat you will get must be greatly less than that of the heat
supplied to the machine." Westinghouse valued informed
and judicious opinion, but he was not awed by the author-
ity of a great name. Only eight years before the letter just
quoted, he had met and defeated a group of the most emi-
nent physicists and electricians, led by Lord Kelvin him-
self, in the discussion over the use of direct current or
alternating current in the first Niagara Falls hydroelectric
development. He had long ago ceased to shrink from
measuring himself with any man — if he had ever had any
such shrinking. He writes to Lord Kelvin: "I duly re-

ONE SORT OF PASTIME 317

ceived the books — and read the paper that you thought
clearly demonstrated the impossibility of utilizing the heat
of the atmosphere for power purposes. After most careful
study of the paper, I came to the conclusion that it did
not meet the case at all." He adds: "I fear you have come
to the conclusion that I have already wasted a good deal
of time on this subject, but as my work on the apparatus
is, in a measure, a pastime, I shall not lose anything. On
the contrary, I find that I have already gained a good deal
from this work in connection with other matters." Lord
Cromer said of Chinese Gordon: "A man who habitually
consults the Prophet Isaiah when in a difficulty, is not apt
to obey the orders of any one." The man who faces a dif-
ficulty as a form of sport — the greater the difficulty, the
greater the sport — will not always be governed by the opin-
ion of philosophers, however eminent.

Westinghouse followed this particular pastime with his
usual purpose, to win the game. That which has been told
above, took place late in 1900. In November 1901, he
put the matter before Professor Dewar of the Royal In-
stitution, London, asking for a report on his patent speci-
fications. In ten days, Professor Dewar answered that
"the specification explicitly claims perpetual motion."
The reasons are set forth, briefly but adequately, and the
report ends with these words: "For these reasons the pro-
posals in the specification will undoubtedly fail to achieve
their object; and there is no possibility of any modifica-
tion of them leading to success." In Colonel Roosevelt's
delightful letters to his children, he tells of wrestling three
times a week with two Japanese wrestlers. "I am not the
age or the build to be whirled lightly over an opponent's
head, and batted down on a mattress without damage — my
right ankle and my left wrist and one thumb and both

318 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

great toes are swollen enough to more or less impair their
usefulness, and I am well mottled with bruises elsewhere.
Still I have made good progress, and they have taught me
three new throws that are perfect corkers." Dewar's throw
was a perfect corker, but it did not stop the sport. Three
years later, Westinghouse asked for a report from a learned
and ingenious engineer associated with him in work on re-
ducing gears for marine turbines, MacAlpine. He reports
(implicitly) that the heating and cooling principle is theo-
retically sound, but that the "cumbrous apparatus would
consume so much energy by friction that in practice no
economy could be realized." The power proposition (no
part of Kelvin's project) is "perpetual motion. It vio-
lates the second law of thermodynamics, in the form given
to it by Professor Thomson (Lord Kelvin)" which law "is
not likely to be overthrown by any simple mechanism."
Thereafter the matter languished, but it never lost all its
interest, for as late as 1913 there are references to it in
Westinghouse's letters; but in later years his serious thought
was in the direction of heating and cooling, rather than
power.

What has just been told is an extreme example of West-
inghouse's independence of mind. He was not "entirely
satisfied without making the experiments." He accepted
nothing on a great name or a great position. But it must
not be inferred that he was lightly sceptical. Far from it,
he was a reverent man in mind and soul. This was his at-
titude toward religion, toward the State, toward the courts,
toward the family, and toward his father and mother. He
respected established things; he revered high and fine
things. This was not a matter of reason, but of instinct.
When he was a young man he joined a church, and his life

RELIGIOUS FAITH 319

long he was an orthodox Christian. He was never inter-
ested in religious speculation, and he gave little time or
attention to religious observances, but to the end of his
life there was no sign of any loss of faith.

CHAPTER XVIII
THE MEANING OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

A PROFESSIONAL biographer says, "the first office of
the biographer is to facilitate the proper reaction between
biography and history." Perhaps so. The man who un-
dertakes to write the life of George Westinghouse does not
need to ask what this wise-sounding saying means, nor does
he need to have such a purpose definitely in mind. The
life lived by George Westinghouse was history; not a his-
tory of wars and politics, but of something greater. As we
have lately seen, to our sorrow, war and politics sometimes
block the advance of civilization for generations. The
Great War, by an appalling destruction of property and
a more appalling destruction of the flower of the race, has
set the world back by years that cannot even be guessed
at. The things that concerned Westinghouse were all, every
one of them, fundamental things in the advance of civiliza-
tion. We have been more or less conscious of this as we
have looked at them in detail. Now let us sum up.

Just what did George Westinghouse mean to the world?
Few rulers of nations have done so much for mankind, for
he was an agent of civilization acting in the new era. He
belongs to the generations. All of this will be better un-
derstood as the years go on, and as scholars and philos-
ophers analyze the influences at work in the last part of
the nineteenth century and the first part of the twentieth
century to carry forward the evolution of transportation
and the manufacture of power. These are major causes
in the progress of the race in that new era into which we
have entered within a century and a half.

320

BESSEMER AND DEMOCRACY 321

We shall first consider transportation. It is a famous
saying of Macaulay's that, "of all the inventions, the alpha-
bet and the printing press alone excepted, those inventions
which abridge distance have done the most for civilization
of our species. Every improvement of the means of loco-
motion benefits mankind morally and intellectually as well
as materially." This idea long ago passed into the com-
mon intellectual stock of mankind. Nobody questions it.

In 1890, Mr. Abram S. Hewitt was awarded the Besse-
mer Medal for his distinguished services to society in the
development of the iron and steel industry. In receiving
that medal, he said:

The Bessemer invention takes its rank with the great
events which have changed the face of society since the
time of the Middle Ages. The invention of printing, the
construction of the magnetic compass, the discovery of
America, and the introduction of the steam engine are the
only capital events in modern history which belong in the
same category with the Bessemer process. . . . The face
of society has been transformed by these discoveries and
inventions. . . . First, the cost of constructing railways
has been so greatly lessened as to permit of their extension
into sparsely inhabited regions. . . . Second, the cost of
transportation has been reduced to so low a point as to
bring into the markets of the world crude products which
formerly would not bear removal. ... I thank it is doubt-
ful whether any event in modern times of equal significance
has occurred. Sir Henry Bessemer has certainly been the
great apostle of democracy.

Through the ages serfdom has been not merely a matter
of laws and customs, but also a consequence of the cost
of carrying goods, and the cost and difficulty of movement
of the individual. Cheap and abundant transportation
has released man from his bondage to conditions, and given

322 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

him his opportunity. Mr. Hewitt spoke in fine and just
terms; but there have been other apostles of democracy
working in the field of transportation. Amongst them were
George Stephenson and George Westinghouse. It is not
necessary to try to fix their relative rank; there is glory
enough to go around. Westinghouse's best-known and
probably his most important work in the field of transpor-
tation was in power braking. Close after this come power
signalling and switching. Power braking and signalling
became automatic almost from the start. Another im-
provement in the apparatus of transportation, originated
and developed by Westinghouse, is the friction draft gear.
The importance of this in reducing the cost of transpor-
tation is known to railroad men, but the public has never
heard of it.

The ultimate effect on the art of transportation of the
work of Westinghouse in the field of alternating current
especially, and in the electric art generally, cannot yet be
estimated, but it may possibly be greater than the effect
of any other one of his activities. That will depend upon
the direction in which electric traction develops, but it is
already very great.

No adequate conception of the immense importance of
this group of activities can be had except by considering
them all together as part of the great art of land transpor-
tation. The weight of trains, the speed of trains, their fre-
quency and regularity of movement, as now seen as a matter
of course, would have been impossible without the auto-
matic power brake. But weight, speed, frequency, and
regularity are not merely matters of public comfort and
convenience; they are elements in the cost of moving pas-
sengers and goods. By the combination and adjustment
of these elements the greatest use is got out of the units of

BRAKES, SIGNALS, TRANSPORTATION 323

track, of equipment, and of man power. The humanitarian
service of the air brake in saving life and personal injury
appeals first to the imagination of the public, but that is
the least of its services to mankind. In the reduction of
cost of carriage it has helped to "change the face of
society."

The same things are true in a less degree of automatic
power signalling. Excellent signalling can be done by man
power, as is done in the British Islands, but it is costly when
wages are high. Automatic power signalling, like power
braking, is one of the "improvements in the means of loco-
motion which benefit mankind morally and intellectually
as well as materially."

Let us stand on the platform at a subway station in
New York. Presently a long train comes roaring out of
the darkness, running at speed, and one thinks it is not
going to stop. Suddenly the speed slackens and directly
the train stands, with admirable precision, at its proper
place. A few seconds later it roars away again into the
darkness, and in another few seconds another train follows,
with the same performance. And so on, hour after hour
and day after day the procession of trains passes with un-
erring regularity. It is a most remarkable feat of trans-
portation, and it is one of the sights of the world. To one
who has knowledge enough and imagination enough to
realize what it means in the use and control of power, and
in service to mankind, it is one of the most impressive
sights.

Or, let us stand at a wayside station on a great railroad,
where there are four tracks, and just beyond a yard with
a dozen tracks with all the necessary crossovers and turn-
outs. Above is a group of brilliant signal lights. A train
of a dozen sleeping cars hauled by two locomotives thun-

324 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

ders by at sixty miles an heur, shaking the earth, and goes
its proper way through the maze of tracks, still at sixty
miles an hour.

Only a few years ago such things would have been physic-
ally impossible, and they are possible now only through
the development of the air brake, Westinghouse's own
invention, and the development of the art of signalling and
interlocking, in which he was a bold and fertile pioneer.

These phenomena are part of the movement of passen-
gers. A more important matter is the movement of freight,
for the cost of moving freight and its regularity affect every
civilized human being every moment of his life. Even
the savage in the wilderness is not entirely free from the
effects of this fundamental element of society. The cost
of our food, our fuel, our clothes, our building material,
and our tools is constantly dependent on the cost of trans-
portation. In the United States freight costs are the lowest
in the world, and this is especially important because we
are the greatest producers of foodstuffs and of the products
of the forest and the mine, and because our hauls from pro-
ducer to consumer are so long. In the United States, too,
the tons of freight moved one mile per head of population
is probably the greatest in the world; but a positive state-
ment is a little dangertfus because ton-mile statistics are
not kept in some of the great nations.

It would be idle and, indeed, invidious to try to appor-
tion the credit for the growth in the United States of the
art of carrying freight, but to Westinghouse, to his inven-
tions, his courage, his faith and skill, a splendid part of that
credit belongs. Mr. Hewitt was speaking of the reduction
of the cost of transportation when he said: "I think it is
doubtful whether any event of equal significance has oc-
curred in modern times."

MANUFACTURE OF POWER 325

Renan says that the capital event in the history of the
world was the establishment of the Christian religion. The
capital event, he says. The improvement of the means of
transportation was not an event, but an evolution, proceed-
ing through the centuries. This evolution stands with the
Christian religion, with the written alphabet, and with the
art of printing amongst the major things that have in-
fluenced the progress of mankind, since mankind emerged
from barbarism into civilization. In the list of men who
have done most for this evolution we may put four names
at the head — George Stephenson, Robert Fulton, Henry
Bessemer, and George Westinghouse.

The contributions of Westinghouse to the development
of the modern system of land transportation were only
part of his services to "the civilization of our species." It
is fairly questionable if they were the most important part.
A few years ago an eminent American engineer, Mr. George
S. Morison, produced a striking group of addresses which,
after his death, were published in a little volume under
the title, "The New Epoch as Developed by the Manu-
facture of Power." Mr. Morison cited the ethnical epochs
which have marked the development of the human race,
viz., the use of fire, the invention of the bow and arrow,
the use of pottery, the domestication of animals, the manu-
facture of iron and, at last, the invention of the written
alphabet. Then came historical civilization and the eth-
nical periods were considered as closed. But Mr. Morison
held that it only needed a new capacity to make an epoch
in civilization as distinct as those in primitive society. Such
a new capacity was found when men learned to manufac-
ture power. That is not to create power, "but to change
inert matter from one form to another in such a way as
to generate power." Not only does the manufacture of

326 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

power mark a new epoch in development, but the change is
greater than any that preceded it; greater in its influence
on the world; greater in the results which are to come.
"The manufacture of power means that, wherever needed,
we can now produce unlimited power. Whatever the
measure of a single machine, that machine can be used to
make a greater one. . . . The steam engine is still almost
the sole representative of manufactured power, but there
is no reason why this should continue. Electricity as a
conveyor of power has been developed to an extent which
may almost be classed with the manufacture of power."

The manufacture of power, now but about a hundred
and fifty years old, has already changed economic and so-
cial conditions, particularly in immense addition to the
wealth of the world. Sir Auckland Geddes, British Am-
bassador to the United States, has lately said that "in 1770
a new age was born." James Watt's first steam engine
patent was granted in January 1769. From that we may
date the New Era of manufactured power. Sir Auckland
said that "the industrial revolution is more potent, more
far-reaching in its effects than any political revolution has
been — a change that has brought, or will bring, happiness
or sorrow, but chiefly increased happiness, to millions of
men and women and children — a change immeasurably
more profound in all its implications than the fall of the
Roman Empire." He might have gone further and said,
as Morison said, that it is a true ethnical epoch in the his-
tory of mankind — an epoch more important than any of
the six epochs that went before it. That is why we have
ventured to say that few rulers of nations have done so
much for mankind as George Westinghouse did. This is
a tremendous claim,- but let us examine its foundations.

In the manufacture of power, as in the development of

MANUFACTURE OF POWER 327

transportation, George Westinghouse stands amongst the
apostles of democracy. He invented and caused other men
to invent. He created companies and built factories in
many countries. He organized, stimulated, and guided
the activities of scores of thousands of men in the manu-
facture of prime movers and auxiliary machinery and ap-
paratus. His great service to mankind in this field of
manufacture of power was in developing the use of the al-
ternating current for the transmission and employment of
electrical energy. That was his own work. He did more,
far more, for the foundation of that development than any
other man who ever lived. Into it entered his imagination,
his courage, and his tenacity in greater measure perhaps
than into any other of his deeds.

The state of the electric art when Westinghouse first
became seriously interested in the possibilities of the alter-
nating current, was like that of the railroad art when Sir
Henry Bessemer brought forth his revolutionary invention
for making steel. Then the broad and rapid development
of the railroads was arrested by a stubborn physical fact.
Iron rails could not stand up under the increasing wheel
weights and speeds, and the price of iron rails had risen to
some four times the price at which steel rails were selling
when the Great War came. The cost of maintenance and
of new construction deterred investors, and the physical
limit set for weights and speeds set a limit to further re-
duction of transportation costs and to public service. Bes-
semer came with cheap steel, and the art of land trans-
portation started forward again and has never since been
arrested by physical conditions. This is one of the land-
marks in the history of civilization.

Something exactly analogous happened in the electric
art. When Westinghouse came seriously into the field,

328 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

the chief use of electric power was in lighting. Direct cur-
rent was used at low tension. The economical distance to
which power could be transmitted was about half a mile.
This meant numerous small generating stations. If we
were ever to have cheap electric power, it must be produced
in large volume, in generating stations so placed that water
power could be had, or cheap coal and abundant condensing
water, and with the economies possible only in large-scale
operations. But it would be folly to establish such gen-
erating stations if the current could not be transmitted
long distances, and the cost of transmitting low-tension
direct current prevented that. So the electric art was faced
by limiting physical facts, just as the railroad art had been
twenty-five years earlier.

Certain inventions and experiments in alternating cur-
rent came to Westinghouse's attention, and he had a vision.
He saw the limits of direct current and the possibilities of
alternating current more clearly perhaps than any other
man of his time, certainly more clearly than any other man
who had the force, the faith, and the capacity to carry his
vision into reality. Even Lord Kelvin, one of the greatest
physicists of his generation, and a man of broad mind and
audacious temperament, opposed Westinghouse for years
in his projects to advance the use of the alternating
current. Eventually he acknowledged generously that
Westinghouse was right, and to the end of his life he and
Westinghouse were close and warm friends, and they were
in constant professional association.

Having seen his vision, Westinghouse proceeded, with
his own unsurpassed fervor, courage, and determination,
and with his great intellectual power, to develop it into
physical being. He bought patents. He gathered about
him a group of brilliant young engineers, and stimulated

ELECTRICITY AND CIVILIZATION 329

and guided them in design, invention, and experiment, and
through many and varied tribulations he moved steadily
on to triumph. Considering the magnitude of his task,
his progress was surprisingly rapid.

The result is known to mankind, but its importance can
only be understood by those who are specially informed.
The whole structure of the electric art as applied to light-
ing, industry, and transportation stands on the alternating
current. The system of central generating plants, hydraulic
and steam, producing enormous quantities of current and
transmitting it long distances, would have been economic-
ally impossible if alternating-current transmission had not
been developed into practice. But it is precisely this sys-
tem of production and distribution that has given the world
cheap electric energy. Cheap lighting current not only
beautifies the towns, but it adds every day some uncount-
able millions of hours of work and pleasure to the activities
of men. Cheap power current has increased beyond any
possible calculation the capacity of mills and factories. It
permitted the prodigious development of trolley roads in
the country and of electric transportation in the cities. It
has brought into being the electrification of steam railroads,
which is well begun and which, so far as can now be seen,
will be the next great step in land transportation.

This, briefly and inadequately stated, was Westing-
house's relation to one element in human progress which
came with the ability to manufacture power. Of all this
he says, with characteristic modesty in one of his rare and
lucid addresses: "To the part I took in bringing forward,
in the eighties of the last century, the alternating-current
system of electric generation and distribution I owe much,
if not all, of the reputation accorded to me as one of the
many pioneers in what is now a great and important in-

330 A LIFE OF GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE

dustry." The consequent increase in the wealth, the well-
being, and the happiness of the people will be a fascinating
subject for speculation for centuries to come.

We venture to say, with due regard to the meaning of
every word, that a thousand years from now, when scholars
and philosophers try to measure the influence in the his-
tory of the human race of the era of manufactured power,
and when they try to name the illustrious men of that era,
they will write high in the shining list the name of George
Westinghouse.

APPENDIX-PATENTS

THE main purpose in preparing these lists of the patents of
George Westinghouse is to relieve the text of a great volume of
technical detail and to make that detail available to any one who
may wish to go deeper into the various subjects, now or in years
to come. Such deeper inquirers will be comparatively few, but
their investigations will be important in the study of certain arts.
Presumably the importance of these investigations will grow; cer-
tainly they will become more difficult as the years go on.

A chronological list is made and then group lists are given of
the most important or interesting patents in the various arts.
Under the designation of each patent the essential characteristics
are pointed out in a few words, and in the case of a few patents,
which had particular influence in their respective arts, a some-
what fuller description is given. It is supposed that this treat-
ment will make the lists useful to the student of the evolution of
transportation and to the student of the manufacture of power,
and that material for such study will grow in value as time passes.

One immediate interest of the lists is that they show in detail
the working of an inventive mind and the fertility which pro-
duced a patentable invention every six weeks for forty-eight
years. Here and there a man has taken out more patents, but
it is not probable that many men ever lived who have taken out
so many.

Another thing shown is the versatility, and another, perhaps
still more interesting, is that every one of Westinghouse's patents
is for something to be made in his own shops or used in his
own enterprises; not one was made to sell. A man so imagi-
native could have produced speculative patents with ease and
without limit, but he always thought of himself as part of his
companies. He never thought of gain except through their
prosperity.

One finds, also, in examining these patents, that the Patent

331

332

APPENDIX

Office drawings were generally made from working drawings,
that the drawings and specifications are complete in detail, and
that the thing to be done and the ways of doing it are clearly
described.

Several men, having special knowledge of the subjects, have
taken part in preparing the lists. If their notes seem sometimes
to be short and inadequate, it must be remembered that they
have tried to keep the lists within reasonable length.

Only the United States patents are listed, as the foreign patents
are mostly repetitions of those, with minor variations.

UNITED STATES PATENTS OF GEORGE
WESTINGHOUSE

GENERAL LIST

NUMBER

DATE

TITLE

50,759

Oct. 31, 1865

Rotary Steam Engine.

61,967

Feb. 12, 1867

Car Replacer.

76,365

Apr. 7, 1868

Railway Frog.

3,584*

Aug. 3, 1869

Railway Frog.

5,504*

July 29, 1873

Steam-Power Brake Devices.

88,929

April 13, 1869

Steam-Power Brake.

106,899

Aug. 30, 1870

Improvement in Steam Engine and Pump.

109,695

Nov. 29, 1870

Atmospheric Car-Brake Pipe.

115,667

June 6, 1871

Steam-Power Car-Brake Apparatus.

5,506*

July 29, 1873

Steam-Power Car-Brake Apparatus.

9,478*

Nov. 23, 1880

Steam-Power Car-Brake Apparatus.

115,668

June 6, 1871

Steam-Engine Valves and Ports.

116,655

July 4, 1871

Valve for Air-Brake Couplings.

117,841

Aug. 8, 1871

Steam-Power Air-Brake Devices.

5,505*

July 29, 1873

Steam-Power Air-Brake Devices.

122,544

Jan. 9, 1872

Improvement in Exhaust Valves for Steam

and Air Engines.

123,067

Jan. 23, 1872

Improvement in Steam-Power Air Brake.

124,403

March 5, 1872

Improvement in Relief Valves for Steam Air-

Brake Cylinders.

124,404

March 5, 1872

Improvement in Steam-Power Air Brakes and

Signals.

124,405

March 5, 1872

Improvement in Steam Air Brakes.

131,380

Sept, 17, 1872

Improvement in Balanced Slide Valves.

131,985

Oct. 8, 1872

Improvement in Rotary Valves.

*Reissued,

APPENDIX

333

NUMBER

DATE

TITLE

134,177

Dec. 24, 1872

Steam and Air Brakes.

134,178

Dec. 24, 1872

Steam and Air Brakes.

134,408

Dec. 31, 1872

Steam and Air Brakes.

6,948*

Feb. 22, 1876

Steam and Air Brake.

136,396

March 4, 1873

Steam-Power Brake Couplings.

136,397

March 4, 1873

Hose Couplings.

136,631

March 11,1873

Steam-Power Brake Couplings.

138,827

May 13,1873

Valve Devices for Steam and Air Brakes.

138,828

May 13, 1873

Rotary Valves for Steam Engines.

141,685

Aug. 12, 1873

Valve Devices for Fluid Brakes.

144,006

Oct. 28, 1873

Steam and Air Brakes.

144,005

Oct. 28, 1873

Locomotive Air Brakes.

142,600

Sept. 9, 1873

Railroad Car Brakes.

144,582

Nov. 11, 1873

Slack Taking-up Apparatus for Steam and

Air Brakes.

147,212

Feb. 3, 1874

Car Brakes.

149,901

April 21, 1874

Valves for Fluid-Brake Pipes.

149,902

April 21, 1874

Car Brakes.

156,322

Oct. 27, 1874

Discharge Valves for Fluid Brakes.

156,323

Oct. 27, 1874

Tripping Apparatus for Air Brakes.

157,951

Dec. 22, 1874

Pipe Couplings.

8,291*

June 18, 1878

Pipe Couplings.

159,533

Feb. 9, 1875

Pneumatic Pump.

159,782

Feb. 16, 1875

Steam-Engine Valve Gear.

160,803

March 16, 1875

Fluid Ejector.

162,782

May 4, 1875

Governor for Steam Engine.

166,489

Aug. 10, 1875

Vacuum-Brake Pipe Coupling.

168,119

Sept. 28, 1875

Ejector Attachment for Vacuum Brakes.

168,359

Oct. 5, 1875

Air Valve for Power Brakes.

172,064

Jan. 11, 1876

Air-Brake Valve.

173,835

Feb. 22, 1876

Air Compressor.

175,886

April 11, 1876

Locomotive Air Brake.

180,179

July 25, 1876

Air Brake and Signal.

205,710

July 2, 1878

Governor for Marine Engines.

214,335

April 15, 1879

Brake-Pipe Coupling.

214,336

April 15, 1879

Coupling Valve.

214,337

April 15, 1879

Automatic Brake Regulator.

214,602

April 22, 1879

Cocks for Fluid-Pressure Brake.

214,603

April 22, 1879

Railway Air-Brake Apparatus.

216,545

June 17, 1879

Operating Valve for Steam and Air Brakes.

217,836

July 22, 1879

Fluid-Pressure Brake Apparatus.

217,837

July 22, 1879

Piston Diaphragm for Power Brakes.

217,838

July 22, 1879

Automatic Brake Relief Valve.

218,149

Aug. 5, 1879

Fluid-Pressure Brake Apparatus.

218,150

Aug. 5, 1879

Automatic Brake Attachment.

220,556

Oct. 14, 1879

Regulating Valve for Automatic Brakes.

222,803

Dec. 23, 1879

Operating Cock for Fluid-Pressure Brakes.

* Reissued.

334

APPENDIX

NUMBER

DATE

TITLE

223,201

Dec. 30, 1879

Auxiliary Telephone Exchange.

223,202

Dec. 30, 1879

Automatic Telephone Switch for Connecting

Local Lines by Means of Main Line.

224,565

Feb. 17, 1880

Telephonic Switches and Connections.

225,898

Mar. 23, 1880

Fluid-Pressure Regulator.

229,346

June 29, 1880

Carbureter.

235,922

Dec. 28, 1880

Fluid-Pressure Brake.

236,388

Jan. 4, 1881

Pipe Coupling.

236,520

Jan. 11, 1881

Apparatus for Regulating Dampers, etc.

237,149

Feb. 1, 1881

Railway Switch Movement.

239,000

March 15, 1881

Feedwater Apparatus.

239,001

March 15,1881

Steam Trap.

240,062

April 12, 1881

Fluid-Pressure Regulator for Automatic

Brakes.

240,628

April 26, 1881

Block Signalling Apparatus.

240,629

April 26, 1881

Switch and Signal Apparatus.

243,415

June 28, 1881

Air-Brake Apparatus.

243,416

June 28, 1881

Brake Beam.

243,417

June 28, 1881

Fluid-Pressure Brake.

243,822

July 5, 1881

Compound Hose Coupling.

245,108

Aug. 2, 1881

Fluid-Pressure Switch and Signal Apparatus.

245,109

Aug. 2, 1881

Air-Brake Strainer Attachment.

245,110

Aug. 2, 1881

Air-Brake Cut-Off and Relief Valve.

245,591

Aug. 9, 1881

Automatic Electric Current Regulator.

245,592

Aug. 9, 1881

Combined Electric and Fluid-Pressure Mech-

anism.

246,053

Aug. 23, 1881

Interlocking Switch and Signal Apparatus.

249,128

Nov. 1, 1881

Pipe Coupling for Pneumatic Railway Brakes.

251,400

Dec. 27, 1881

Valve Arrangement for Pneumatic Railway

Brakes.

251,980

Jan. 3, 1882

Regulating Valve for Railway Brakes.

267,473

Nov. 14, 1882

Hose Protector.

270,527

Jan. 9, 1883

Cock Grinding Machine.

270,528

Jan. 9, 1883

Air-Brake Pressure Regulator.

270,867

Jan. 16, 1883

Electric Circuit for Railway Signalling.

280,269

June 26, 1883

Fluid-Pressure Regulator.

282,249

July 31, 1883

Track Circuit Connector.

282,250

July 31, 1883

Track Circuit Connector.

287,894

Nov. 6, 1883

Fluid-Pressure Gage Tester.

288,388

Nov. 13, 1883

Connection for Railway Brakes.

290,507

Dec. 18, 1883

Boiler Feeder.

300,543

June 17, 1884

Apparatus for Relieving Pressure in Brake

Cylinders.

301,191

July 1,1884

System for Conveying and Utilizing Gas Un-

der Pressure.

306,566

Oct. 14, 1884

Means for Detecting Leaks in Gas Mains.

10,561*

Feb. 17, 1885

Means for Detecting Leaks in Gas Mains.

* Reissued.

APPENDIX

335

NUMBER

DATE

TITLE

307,606

Nov. 4, 1884

Well-Drilling Apparatus for Oil, Gas, or

Water.

309,591

Dec. 23, 1884

Regulating Steam Supply to Compound En-

gines.

309,592

Dec. 23, 1884

Regulating Steam Supply to Engines.

310,347

Jan. 6, 1885

Pressure Regulator.

310,348

Jan. 6, 1885

Pressure Regulator and Relief Valve.

312,541

Feb. 17, 1885

Means for Detecting Leaks in Gas Mains.

312,542

Feb. 17, 1885

Means for Detecting Leaks in Gas Mains.

312,543

Feb. 17, 1885

Pressure Regulator and Cut-Off.

312,777

Feb. 24, 1885

Means for Carrying Off Leakage from Gas

Mains.

313,393

March 3, 1885

Connection for Pipe Lines.

314,089

March 17,1885

System for the Protection of Railroad Tracks

and Gas Pipe Lines.

315,363

April 7, 1885

Means for Detecting Leaks in Gas Mains.

318,839

May 26, 1885

Regulator for Gas and Air Supply to Furnaces.

318,840

May 26, 1885

Pipe Coupling for Gas Mains.

318,841

May 26, 1885

Pipe Joint for Gas Mains.

319,364

June 2, 1885

Means for Detecting and Carrying Off Leak-

age from Gas Mains.

319,365

June 2, 1885

Pipe Line for Gas Supply.

319,765

June 9, 1885

Stop-Valve Box for Pipe Lines.

323,246

July 26, 1885

Pipe Line.

323,840

Aug. 4, 1885

Method of Conveying and Supplying Gas.

324,905

Aug. 25, 1885

Pressure Regulator and Cut-Off.

328,368

Oct. 13, 1885

Means for Conveying and Supplying Gas.

330,179

Nov. 10, 1885

Means for Detecting and Carrying Off Leak-

age from Gas Mains.

331,595

Dec. 1, 1885

Means for Detecting and Carrying Off Leak-

age from Gas Mains.

331,596

Dec. 1, 1885

Means for Detecting and Closing Leaks in

Gas Mains.

333,800

Jan. 5, 1886

Means for Conveying and Supplying Gas.

340,266

April 20, 1886

Means for Preventing Leakage hi Gas Mains.

340,267

April 20, 1886

Pipe Joint for Gas Mains.

340,268

April 20, 1886

Pipe Joint for Gas Mains.

341,295

May 4, 1886

Pressure Regulator and Cut-Off.

342,552

May 25, 1886

System of Electrical Distribution.

342,553

May 25, 1886

Induction Coil.

342,659

May 25, 1886

Pipe Joint for Gas Mains.

344,701

June 29, 1886

Means for Detecting and Carrying Off Leak-

age from Gas Mams.

345,093

July 6, 1886

Car Brake.

345,820

July 20, 1886

Automatic Brake Regulator.

347,673

Aug. 17, 1886

Proportional Meter.

349,130

Sept. 14, 1886

Dynamometer.

336

APPENDIX

NUMBER

DATE

TITLE

352,382

Nov. 9, 1886

Pressure Regulator and Cut-Off.

352,725

Nov. 16, 1886

Telegraphic Relay.

353,186

Nov. 23, 1886

Thermostat.

357,109

Feb. 1, 1887

Electrical Interlocking Mechanism for Switches

and Signals.

357,295

Feb. 8, 1887

Commutator for Dynamo Electric Machines.

357,296

Feb. 8, 1887

Electric Railway Signalling.

358,518

March 1, 1887

Binding Post.

358,519

March 1, 1887

Electropneumatic Interlocking Apparatus.

358,520

March 1, 1887

Electric Fluid-Pressure Engine.

358,521

March 1, 1887

Electrically Actuated Fluid-Pressure Motor.

358,713

March 1, 1887

Electrically Actuated Fluid-Pressure Motor

and Circuits Therefor.

359,303

March 15,1887

Fluid-Pressure Motor.

360,070

March 29, 1887

Fluid-Pressure Automatic Brake Mechanism.

360,638

April 5, 1887

Railway Electric Signalling Apparatus.

365,454

June 28, 1887

Long-Distance Gas Distribution.

366,361

July 12, 1887

Electric Conductor.

366,362

July 12, 1887

Electrical Converter.

366,544

July 12, 1887

Electrical Converter.

370,510

Sept. 27, 1887

Gas Supply System.

373,035

Nov. 8, 1887

System of Electrical Distribution.

373,036

Nov. 8, 1887

Automatic Circuit Controlling Apparatus for

Systems of Electrical Distribution.

373,037

Nov. 8, 1887

System of Electrical Distribution.

373,038

Nov. 8, 1887

Converter Box.

373,706

Nov. 22, 1887

Locomotive Driver Brake.

374,858

Dec. 13, 1887

Dynamo Electric Machine.

376,837

Jan. 24, 1888

Fluid-Pressure Automatic Brake Mechanism.

382,920

May 15, 1888

Nut Lock.

383,678

May 29, 1888

Electric Meter.

383,679

May 29, 1888

Mounting Armatures of Dynamos.

383,680

May 29, 1888

Electric Meter.

388,163

Aug. 21, 1888

System of Gas Distribution.

389,032

Sept. 4, 1888

Pressure Regulator and Cut-Off.

390,930

Oct. 9, 1888

Synchronizing Electric Generators.

391,997

Oct. 30, 1888

Buffing Apparatus.

393,596

Nov. 27, 1888

Electric Fluid-Pressure Engine.

399,103

March 5, 1889

Brake Shoe.

399,639

March 12,1889

System of Electrical Distribution.

400,420

March 26, 1889

Fluid Meter.

400,532

April 2, 1889

Service Pipe Connection for Gas Mains.

401,915

April 23, 1889

Automatic Pump Governor for Brake Mech-

anisms.

401,916

April 23, 1889

Engineer's Brake Valve.

404,139

May 28, 1889

System of Electrical Distribution.

405,812

June 25, 1889

Compound Engine.

APPENDIX

337

NUMBER

DATE

TITLE

415,595

Nov. 19, 1889

Brake Apparatus for Six- Wheeled Trucks.

420,132

Jan. 28, 1890

Steam-Heating Apparatus for Railway Cars.

425,059

April 8, 1890

Fluid-Pressure Automatic Brake Mechanism.

427,489

May 6, 1890

Alternating-Current Electric Meter.

428,435

May 20, 1890

Alternating-Current Arc Lamp.

432,715

July 22, 1890

Brake Cylinder Head.

434,165

Aug. 12, 1890

Subway for Electric Conductors.

436,200

Sept. 9, 1890

Electric Converter.

437,740

Oct. 7, 1890

Fluid-Pressure Automatic Brake.

440,082

Nov. 4, 1890

Automatic Brake Regulator.

441,209

Nov. 25, 1890

Compound Pumping Engine.

446,159

Feb. 10, 1891

Switch and Signal Apparatus.

448,827

March 24, 1891

Air Brake.

450,652

April 21, 1891

Electric Locomotor.

454,129

June 16, 1891

Pipe Coupling.

455,028

June 30, 1891

Rotary Engine.

455,029

June 30, 1891

Piston.

466,590

Jan. 5, 1892

Apparatus for Heating Cars.

493,881

March 21, 1893

Rotary Water Meter.

497,394

May 16, 1893

Conduit Electric Railway.

497,436

May 16, 1893

Sectional Contact Conductor for Electric Rail-

ways.

499,335

June 13, 1893

Buffing Mechanism for Cars.

499,336

June 13, 1893

Draw-Gear Apparatus for Cars.

520,975

June 5, 1894

Converter System for Electric Railways.

524,749

Aug. 21, 1894

System of Electrical Distribution.

538,001

April 23, 1895

Quick Action Valve for Air Brakes.

543,280

July 23, 1895

Incandescent Electric Lamp.

543,915

Aug. 6, 1895

Draw Gear and Buffing Apparatus.

545,994

Sept. 10, 1895

Draw Gear and Buffing Apparatus.

550,359

Nov. 26, 1895

Exhaust Pump.

550,465

Nov. 26, 1895

Electric Railway.

550,466

Nov. 26, 1895

Rotary Pumping and Motor Apparatus.

550,467

Nov. 26, 1895

Electric and Fluid Locomotor.

550,468

Nov. 26, 1895

Ventilating Means for Electrical Apparatus.

556,602

March 17,1896

Underground Conductor for Electric Rail-

ways.

557,463

March 31, 1896

Engineer's Brake Valve.

560,452

May 19, 1896

Electric Railway System.

573,066

Dec. 15, 1896

Electric Railway Construction.

573,190

Dec. 15, 1896

Fluid-Pressure Automatic Brake.

576,492

Feb. 2, 1897

Truck.

579,506

March 23, 1897

Current-Collecting Device for Railway Vehi-

cles.

579,525

March 23, 1897

System of Circuits and Apparatus for Electric

Railways.

579,526

March 23, 1897

Electropneumatic Locomofivfc.

338

APPENDIX

NUMBER

DATE

TITLE

579,527

March 23, 1897

Electric Railway System.

582,494

May 11, 1897

Core for Electrical Machine.

583,584

June 1, 1897

Gas Engine.

583,585

June 1, 1897

Means for Controlling and Regulating Oper-

ation of Gas Engines.

583,586

June ' 1, 1897

Electric Igniter for Gas Engines.

584,911

June 22, 1897

Electric Railway System.

591,314

Oct. 5, 1897

Electric Railway System.

593,710

Nov. 16, 1897

Quick-Action Triple Valve.

593,711

Nov. 16, 1897

Quick- Action Triple Valve.

595,007

Dec. 7, 1897

Elevator.

595,008

Dec. 7, 1897

Electric Railway.

595,027

Dec. 7, 1897

Hydraulic Pumping and Motor Apparatus.

606,828

July 5, 1898

Travelling Contact Device for Electric Rail-

ways.

609,484

Aug. 23, 1898

Fluid-Pressure Automatic Brake.

615,118

Nov. 29, 1898

Center Sill for Railroad Cars.

624,277

May 2, 1899

Electropneumatic Controlling System.

629,943

Aug. 1, 1899

Draw Gear and Buffing Apparatus.

645,612

Mar. 20, 1900

Method of Distributing Energy.

645,613

Mar. 20, 1900

Apparatus for Distributing Energy.

649,187

May 8, 1900

Draw Gear and Buffing Apparatus.

672,112

April 16, 1901

Draft Appliances for Railroad Cars.

672,113

April 16, 1901

Car Coupling.

672,114

April 16, 1901

Draft Appliance for Railway Cars.

672,115

April 16, 1901

Air Brake.

672,116

April 16, 1901

Draw Gear and Buffing Apparatus.

672,117

April 16, 1901

Draw Gear and Buffing Apparatus,

672,970

April 30, 1901

Rotary Motor or Pump.

672,971

April 30, 1901

Rotary Pump.

676,108

June 11, 1901

Electric Railway System.

680,824

Aug. 20, 1901

Contact Device for Electric Railways.

680,825

Aug. 20, 1901

Speed-Changing Gearing.

680,826

Aug. 20, 1901

Means for Utilizing Gaseous Products of Com-

bustion.

680,827

Aug. 20, 1901

Gas Producer.

680,828

Aug. 20, 1901

Gas Producer.

687,467

Nov. 26, 1901

Draft Appliance for Railway Cars.

687,468

Nov. 26, 1901

Draw Gear and Buffing Apparatus.

699,267

May 6, 1902

Automatic Fluid-Pressure Brake Apparatus.

708,107

Sept. 2, 1902

Furnace.

708,747

Sept. 9, 1902

Car Coupling.

710,385

Sept. 30, 1902

Gas Engine.

712,626

Nov. 4, 1902

Rotary Engine.

722,787

March 17, 1903

Gas Engine.

727,039

May 5, 1903

Automatic Fluid-Pressure Brake Apparatus.

727,040

May 5, 1903

Automatic Fluid-Pressure Brake Apparatus.

APPENDIX

339

NUMBEB

DATE

TITLE

731,726

June 23, 1903

Method of and Means for Driving Electric

Motors.

739,367

Sept. 22, 1903

Gas Producing System.

745,703

Dec. 1, 1903

Gas Engine.

745,704

Dec. 1, 1903

Gas Engine.

749,708

Jan. 12, 1904

Friction-Spring Mechanism.

750,010

Jan. 19, 1904

Air Brake.

751,587

Feb. 9, 1904

Rotary Fluid Motor.

751,588

Feb. 9, 1904

Gearing.

751,589

Feb. 9, 1904

Fluid-Pressure Turbine.

754,400

March 8, 1904

Vertical Fluid-Pressure Turbine.

767,367

Aug. 9, 1904

Turbine Blade.

772,852

Oct. 18, 1904

Fluid-Pressure Brake.

773,832

Nov. 1, 1904

Controlling System for Electric Motors.

773,833

Nov. 1, 1904

Controlling System for Electric Motors.

787,485

April 18, 1905

Fluid-Pressure Turbine.

794,761

July 18, 1905

Friction Device.

799,698

Sept. 19, 1905

Friction Draft Gear.

807,003

Dec. 12, 1905

Elastic Fluid Turbine.

807,145

Dec. 12, 1905

Elastic Fluid Turbine.

807,146

Dec. 12, 1905

Elastic Fluid Turbine.

814,339

March 6, 1906

Supporting Structure for Trolley Conductors.

816,516

March 27, 1906

Fluid-Pressure Turbine.

833,273

Oct. 16, 1906

Metallic Packing.

866,171

Sept. 17, 1907

Elastic Fluid Turbine.

869,606

Oct. 29, 1907

Fluid-Pressure Brake.

880,847

March 3, 1908

Elastic Fluid Turbine.

883,155

March 24, 1908

Shaft Packing.

890,951

June 16, 1908

Gas Producer.

894,927

Aug. 4, 1908

Fluid-Pressure Turbine.

906,177

Dec. 8, 1908

Internal Combustion Engine.

922,827

May 25, 1909

Gearing.

930,906

Aug. 10, 1909

Nozzle Control for Elastic Fluid Turbines.

930,907

Aug. 10, 1909

Turbine Blade and Vane.

930,908

Aug. 10, 1909

Elastic Fluid Turbine.

935,286

Sept. 28, 1909

Elastic Fluid Turbine.

935,343

Sept. 28, 1909

Rotary Engine.

935,438

Sept. 28, 1909

Fluid-Pressure Turbine.

935,567

Sept. 28, 1909

Elastic Fluid Turbine.

935,568

Sept. 28, 1909

Elastic Fluid Turbine.

935,569

Sept. 28, 1909

Elastic Fluid Turbine.

941,395

Nov. 30, 1909

Elastic Fluid Turbine.

941,396

Nov. 30, 1909

Marine Turbine.

946,749

Jan. 18, 1910

Elastic Fluid Turbine.

953,567

March 29, 1910

Elastic Fluid Turbine.

953,568

March 29, 1910

Turbine Blade and Vane.

953,674

March 29, 1910

Elastic Fluid Turbine.

340

APPENDIX

NUMBER

DATE

TITLE

968,823

Aug.

30, 1910

Propelling Device.

969,821

Sept.

13, 1910

Re-entrant Turbine.

972,421

Oct.

11, 1910

Turbine.

976,418

Nov.

22, 1910

Turbine Blade.

976,966

Nov.

29, 1910

Method of Heating Air.\

976,967

Nov.

29, 1910

Apparatus for Heating Air.

990,321

Apr.

25, 1911

Turbine Blading.

994,810

June

13, 1911

Electrical Apparatus.

995,508

June

20, 1911

Elastic Fluid Turbinel

998,820

July

25, 1911

Turbine Blading.

998,821

July

25, 1911

Condensing Turbine.,

1,014,683

Jan.

16,1912

Turbine Blade.

1,031,757

July

9, 1912

Re-entrant Turbine.'

1,031,758

July

9, 1912

Reduction Gearing.

1,031,759

July

9, 1912

Vehicle Supporting Device?

1,036,043

Aug.

20, 1912

Fluid-Pressure Device.

1,050,186

Jan.

14, 1913

Dynamometer.

1,050,187

Jan.

14, 1913

Blade Mounting.

1,061,648

May

13, 1913

Blades.

1,061,792

May

13, 1913

Elastic Fluid Turbine.

1,073,197

Sept.

16, 1913

Cooling Means for Internal Combustion En-

gines.

1,088,387

Feb.

24, 1914

Transmission Gearing.

1,136,072

Apr.

20, 1915

Reduction Gearing.

1,136,189

Apr.

20, 1915

Reduction Gearing.

1,142,069

June

8, 1915

Marine Turbine.

1,148,206

July

27, 1915

Combustion Engine.

1,149,881

Aug.

10, 1915

Transmission Gearing.

1,161,095

Nov.

23, 1915

Internal Combustion Engine.

1,185,608

May

30, 1916

Automobile Air Spring.

1,187,212

June

13, 1916

Gland Packing.

1,194,687

Aug.

15, 1916

Multistage Compressor.

1,195,119

Aug.

15, 1916

Reduction Gearing.

1,205,130

Nov.

14, 1916

Turbine Valve Mechanism.

1,208,252

Dec.

12, 1916

Coupling.

1,209,917

Dec.

26, 1916

Engine Starter.

1,209,918

Dec.

26, 1916

Marine Turbine.

1,284,006

Nov.

5, 1918

Automatic Train Control.

APPENDIX 341

GROUP LISTS— SELECTED PATENTS

As is explained above, the patents selected for brief comment
are the most important or interesting. They are such as went
into general use, or contained early suggestions of valuable ideas,
or otherwise affected their several arts.

AIR BRAKE

s~ . . . -' - . • '.

STRAIGHT AIR

No. 88,929, April 13, 1869. Steam-Power Brake.— This was
the first patent issued to Westinghouse for an air brake, as de-
scribed in the Air-Brake chapter. It formed a firm foundation
for the air-brake structure that was built upon it, and its chief
characteristics will be found stated in the opinion of Justice
Swayne and Judge Walker, of the United States Court, in litiga-
tion between the Westinghouse Air Brake Company and the
Gardner and Ransom Brake Company. The conclusions of the
court will be found in the Air-Brake chapter.

No. 115,667, June 6, 1871. Steam-Power Brake Apparatus. —
This patent proposed a device to produce a vacuum on the non-
pressure side of the brake cylinder piston for the purpose of
quickening the release of brakes to remedy a defect of the straight-
air system. It was not used in practice, but was one of the
earliest disclosures of the vacuum-brake system, as by reissue
5506, under date of July 29, 1873, a claim was allowed for the
operation of power brakes by atmospheric pressure.

No. 122,544, January 9, 1872. Improvement in Exhaust
Valves for Steam and Air Engines. — This patent is for a valve
device, to be used in connection with the straight-air system to
provide an escape of pressure directly from the brake cylinder to
the atmosphere when it is desired to release brakes so that the
time of release will be reduced as compared with that required to
permit the air to escape through the train pipe and out of the
engineer's valve on the locomotive. But few of them were put
in service.

342 APPENDIX

AUTOMATIC

Nos. 124,404 and 124,405, March 5, 1872. Improvement in
Steam-Power Air Brakes and Signals. — These patents for the
first time reveal the basic invention of the automatic brake and
also the system of train signalling that subsequently became
standard on passenger trains of this country. The following ex-
tract from specification of Patent No. 124,404 clearly shows the
inventor's conception of the problem and indicates the means
proposed for its solution. "In the steam-power air-brake appa-
ratus heretofore in use a single line of pipe conveys the com-
pressed air from the main reservoir on the locomotive to each
brake cylinder. If this pipe becomes accidentally broken at any
point it is, of course, useless for braking purposes from that point
to the rear end of the train. For this and other reasons I have
devised an apparatus consisting in part of a double line of brake
pipes, which may be cooperative or independently operative in
braking at the pleasure of the engineer, and which as a separate
device I have included in a separate application. The improve-
ment herein described relates to the same class of apparatus, and
consists in the features of construction and combination substan-
tially as hereinafter claimed, by which, first, an air reservoir,
auxiliary to or independent of the main reservoir, is combined on
each car with the brake cylinder; second, by means of a cock or
cocks, with suitable ports, such additional reservoir, when used
as an auxiliary reservoir, is charged with compressed air from one
brake pipe, and the brake cylinder from the other, such pipes in
such use being interchangeable or not, at pleasure; third, and by
means of a single cock with suitable ports either brake pipe may
be used for charging the reservoir and the other for operating the
brakes; fourth, when a car becomes disconnected from the train
by accident or otherwise, a port or ports will thereby be opened
in a communicating pipe or pipes, by which the air from such
auxiliary reservoir will be admitted freely to the brake cylinder,
so as automatically to apply the brakes; and, fifth, the conductor
and engineer may communicate signals or orders to each other
by the use of the brake pipes and the compressed air."

No. 138,827, May 13, 1873. Valve Devices for Steam and Air
Brakes. — Describes the first form of triple valve experimentally

APPENDIX 343

tried in road service, but as it could not graduate the brake pres-
sure it was not introduced into general service.

No. 141,685, August 12, 1873. Valve Devices for Fluid Brakes.
— Describes a triple valve capable of graduating the brake-
cylinder pressure, and was the first form supplied for service use.

No. 149,901, April 21, 1874. Valves for Fluid-Brake Pipes.—
Improvement on Patent No. 141,685. Valves constructed of the
design shown in this patent succeeded those of Patent No. 141,685
and were largely used in service.

No. 156,322, October 27, 1874. Discharge Valves for Fluid
Brakes. — The device shown in this patent was intended to provide
for the automatic application of the brakes in case of a derailment
of the car. It was included among the devices furnished with the
automatic brake when it was first introduced, but as a result of
experience its use was discontinued because of its undesired opera-
tion, due to its being operated by flying missiles when the train
was in motion.

No. 168,359, October 5, 1875. Air Valve for Power Brakes —
An important improvement in the automatic brake, in which a
slide valve and piston is substituted for poppet valves and dia-
phragms used in preceding structures. It was also the first triple
valve with a normally open exhaust port.

No. 172,064, January 11, 1876. Air-Brake Valve.— An im-
provement in triple-valve construction in which a limited amount
of lost motion between the valve stem and the slide valve is the
important feature. This particular feature is an important ele-
ment in all subsequent triple-valve constructions.

No. 214,602, April 22, 1879. Cocks for Fluid-Pressure Brake.
— This invention was an important contribution to the improve-
ment of air brakes, as it is the first engineers' valve arranged to
store pressure in the main reservoir in excess of the brake-pipe
pressure, to facilitate the release of brakes. It is of particular
importance in trains of considerable length and the principle of
excess pressure has ever since been employed in all operative air-
brake systems.

No. 217,838, July 22, 1879. Automatic Brake Relief Valve.
— The importance of this patent is that it contains suggestions
subsequently embodied in the quick-action brake. In the form
illustrated in the patent it was not a practically operative device.

344 APPENDIX

No. 220,556, October 14, 1879. Regulating Valve for Auto-
matic Brakes. — Illustrates the last important improvement in the
plain triple valve, and its purpose is described in the specification
as follows: "It is important in such device that the valve which
governs the flow of air or other fluid shall move not only with great
certainty to any desired position, but also shall move with slight
variations of pressure on the piston, so that the application of the
brakes with any desired power, and their ready release, may be
quickly and easily effected at the pleasure of the engineer." With
this improvement added to the then existing brake system the
graduation of brake pressure was greatly improved.

No. 235,922, December 28, 1880. Fluid-Pressure Brake.— The
first patent to describe the combination of the brake-cylinder
auxiliary reservoir and triple valve in a single structure; created
the general type of freight-car brake that has, since its invention,
been employed almost exclusively in freight-car service.

No. 270,528, January 9, 1883. Air-Brake Pressure Regulator.
— Describes what is technically termed a pressure-retaining valve,
which is a device connected with the exhaust port of the triple
valve, so arranged as to retain a predetermined pressure in the
brake cylinder when the triple valve is in position for recharging
auxiliary reservoirs in descending long and heavy grades. On
level track it is caused to be inoperative by opening a direct pas-
sage from the exhaust port of the triple valve to the atmosphere.
The addition of this device was necessary to make the automatic
brake available for freight service. It, therefore, has a very im-
portant place in the patent record of the air-brake art.

QUICK ACTION

No. 360,070, March 29, 1887, and No. 376,837, January 24,
1888. Fluid-Pressure Automatic-Brake Mechanism. — These pat-
ents disclose the invention of the quick-acting brake. The speci-
fication of Patent No. 360,070 clearly states the difficulties to be
overcome and the general principles of the method employed to
do it. The detailed construction shown in Patent No. 376,837
was embodied in the standard triple valve thereafter for both
freight and passenger service. Next to the original invention of
the automatic brake, the development and introduction of the
quick-acting triple valve is the most important event in the his-

APPENDIX 345

tory of power' braking, for it resulted in the general use of power
brakes in freight service on long trains.

No. 448,827, March 24, 1891. Air Brake.— A quick-acting
brake in which the train-pipe vent valve is not combined with
the triple valve; a variation of the original quick-acting triple
valve; not put into practical service.

No. 538,001, April 23, 1895. Quick-Action Valve for Air
Brakes. — This patent describes a type of quick-acting triple valve
in which the quick-acting feature is differentiated from previous
patents in respect to the fact that its operation depended upon a
relatively quick movement of the triple-valve piston, while in
previous types the same result was obtained through a longer
travel of the piston in emergency applications.

ELECTRO-PNEUMATIC

No. 243,417, June 28, 1881. Fluid-Pressure Brake.— This is
believed to be the first patent issued for an air brake in which the
air valves are electrically actuated. Improved and expanded by
other additions, it is now largely used in some classes of railway
service. The general principles revealed in this patent were
largely used in electropneumatic switching and signalling.

ACCESSORIES

No. 117,841, August 8, 1871. Steam-Power Air-Brake De-
vices.— The purpose of this invention is described in the following
quotation from the specification. "In applying car brakes it is
desirable that the movement of the brake shoes at first be rapid,
so that they shall engage the wheels as quickly as possible, and
after they have engaged the wheels that they be pressed against
them with great force. Before they touch the wheels they offer
no great resistance. After they engage the wheels their motion
is little, but the resistance is great." The form in which the in-
vention was patented was used to a limited extent in the early
days of the application of air brakes, but was abandoned as not
satisfactorily accomplishing the desired result. In a modified and
improved form it is now an essential feature of what is technically
called the "empty and load brake," one of the latest air-brake
developments,

346 APPENDIX

No. 134,178, December 24, 1872. Steam and Air Brakes.— In
this patent means are proposed for automatically compensating
for the wearing away of brake shoes, which must otherwise be
done by hand adjustment. In improved forms, which embody
the basic idea exhibited in this patent, many thousands of these
devices are employed, and are practically standard in passenger
service.

No. 136,631, March 11, 1873. Steam-Power Brake Coup-
lings.— The purpose of this invention was to remove the necessity
for a double line of pipes under the cars due to the type of coup-
ling theretofore used. The following quotation from the specifica-
tion describes the condition to be remedied and the method pro-
posed in the patent for doing it: "In the patent granted to me,
August 8, 1871, No. 117,841, provision is made for the reversal of
a car without changing the relative arrangement of the couplings.
This is done by branching the air-brake pipe at or near each end
of the car, and attaching a male coupling to one branch and a
female coupling to the other, as therein described. In my present
improvement I accomplish the same useful result by making a
coupling wherein each half shall have a male and female part to
couple into or with the female and male parts of the next coupling.
With couplings so made there will be no occasion to branch the
pipes, and the half coupling on either end of either car will couple
on to any other half coupling on the train." Couplings of this
form were experimentally used but did not become a part of
standard apparatus.

No. 142,600, September 9, 1873. Railroad Car Brakes.— This
is one of the earliest patents, in which the use of metal in brake
beams is proposed, and it also includes improved methods of sup-
port and balancing. It was tried experimentally, and ultimately
the principles embodied in this patent became general in practice.

No. 144,005, October 28, 1873. Locomotive Air Brakes.—
This is the first of Westinghouse's inventions describing the ap-
plication of power brakes to driving wheels of locomotives. The
form here shown was applied to a limited extent.

No. 147,212, February 3, 1874. Car Brakes.— An important
improvement in details of construction on Patent No. 144,005, for
limited space between driving wheels.

No. 149,902, April 21, 1874. Car Brakes.— This patent covers

APPENDIX 347

important improvements in brake-beam construction, whereby
wooden brake beams were sufficiently reinforced with metal truss
rods so that they were capable of meeting the stresses due to the
application of power brakes. Used to a very considerable extent
in passenger service.

No. 157,951, December 22, 1874. Pipe Couplings.— A very im-
portant invention, and an improvement on Patent No. 136,631,
by means of which the practical necessity for double lines of pipe
and double hose couplings was avoided. It was immediately
placed in service and has remained the standard hose-coupling
device for air-brake purposes.

No. 159,533, February 9, 1875. Pneumatic Pump. — This in-
vention describes a steam-driven air compressor in which air is
compressed serially or in stages, thereby effecting a substantial
economy in the cost of compression. The application of this
principle was delayed for many years, but it is now practically
standard for steam-driven air-brake compressors.

No. 180,179, July 25, 1876. Air Brake and Signal.— This is
for a system of train signals employing compressed air as the
medium of communication, and the specification states that the
object of the invention is to enable the conductor to employ com-
pressed air in communicating signals to the engineer. In a some-
what modified form it has come into general use on passenger ser-
vice in America.

No. 214,336, April 15, 1879. Coupling Valve.— This patent is
the first to describe the combination of a hose coupling with a
valve arrangement controlling the flow of air through the train
pipe in which the valves are automatically opened when the
couplings are united, and closed when they are manually sep-
arated by partially rotating the two halves of the coupling with
reference to each other. The valves, however, remain open if the
couplings are separated by pulling them apart, as in the case of a
parted train, thus providing for the escape of the air from the
train pipe, causing the automatic application of the brakes. The
successful employment of this device would dispense with the
train pipe cocks that are otherwise required at each end of the
car. Many variations embodying the basic idea have been pro-
posed, but no satisfactory substitute for a train-pipe cock has
been found.

348 APPENDIX

No. 214,337, April 15, 1879. Automatic Brake Regulator.—
This patent is of importance as showing one form of the appli-
ance that was used in the Galton-Westinghouse tests, described
in the Air-Brake chapter. The following quotation from the
specification describes the object of the invention: "To ascertain
if possible the laws governing the action of the various forces
brought into play by the use of brakes, I had made a special
brake-vehicle fitted with self-recording apparatus to register at
each instant, first, the force with which the wheels were pressed
by the brake shoe; second, the amount of resistance or drag be-
tween the shoes and wheels; third, the weight with which the
wheels pressed the rails; fourth, the exact rate of speed of the
vehicle; fifth, the rate of rotation of the braked wheels." The
remarkable results obtained are set forth in the text.

No. 240,062, April 12, 1881. Fluid-Pressure Regulator for
Automatic Brakes. — This patent is for automatically regulating
the air pressure by controlling the flow of steam to the air com-
pressor, resulting in the automatic maintenance of any desired
air pressure. This device was at once put into practical opera-
tion, and in one form or another it forms a part of the existing
brake system.

No. 401,916, April 23, 1889. Engineer's Brake Valve.— -This
patent describes a very important improvement in the engineer's
operating brake valve set forth in the following quotation from
the specification. "The object of our invention is, primarily, to
provide for such gradual opening and closure of the valve which
controls the discharge of air from the brake pipe as to cause a
substantial equalization of pressure in the brake pipe and uni-
form application of the brakes throughout the length of the train,
and obviate the liability to release the brakes on the forward
cars, in long trains, which has heretofore been found to be induced
by an inequality of pressure in the brake pipe occasioned by the
quick release of a considerable quantity of air and the sudden
closure of the discharge valve thereafter, and from which the
breaking of the train into two or more sections has sometimes re-
sulted." The gradual increase in length of trains rendered some
mechanism of this general character necessary for satisfactory
brake operation.

No. 415,595, November 19, 1889. Brake Apparatus for Six-

APPENDIX 349

Wheeled Trucks. — The first patent to describe a method of apply-
ing brakes to all of the wheels of a six-wheeled truck. A practical
solution of the problem was reached with great difficulty, owing
to the contracted space available for the application of the brake-
shoes to the center pair of wheels. It was, however, accomplished
substantially in accordance with the method proposed in this
patent, and it is now in universal use.

No. 441,209, November 25, 1890. Compound Pumping Engine.
— This is a patent for a compound direct-acting air compressor,
in which both the steam and air elements are compounded. A
substantial economy in steam consumption was effected by this
invention, and compressors of the general design shown in the
patent are in general use.

FRICTION DRAFT GEAR

No. 391,997, October 30, 1888. Buffing Apparatus.— This is
the basic friction draft-gear patent, and the following quotation
from the specification clearly states its object and the method of
accomplishment. "My present invention relates to certain im-
provements in buffing apparatus designed to be interposed be-
tween a stationary and movable body, or between two bodies
approaching each other either from opposite directions or be-
tween two bodies moving in the same direction, but at different
rates of speed; and the invention has for its object a construction
of buffing apparatus, whether applied to the draw bars or buffers
of cars, or for other purposes, wherein a frictional resistance is
employed, either in combination with a spring resistance or alone,
for the purpose of modifying the momentum and impact of the
meeting or separating bodies." Several succeeding patents (which
included the generic invention) for improvements and modifica-
tions were issued to Westinghouse covering the various forms
experimented with, leading to a successful commercial product.

It is an interesting fact that in the latest commercial develop-
ment of the friction draft gear by the Westinghouse Air Brake
Company, in which much greater frictional resistance is provided
than is found in previous constructions, the detailed construction
is substantially the same as that shown in the original patent, the
principal difference being an increased thickness of the friction
plates in the later construction.

350 APPENDIX

HYDRAULIC DRAFT GEAR

No. 649,187, 'May 8, 1900, and No. 672,117, April 16, 1901.
Draw Gear and Buffing Apparatus. — These patents are for draft-
gear devices in which hydraulic resistance is substituted for fric-
tion resistance, but these constructions did not prove to be an
operative improvement upon the friction type and were not put
into practical service.

No. 708,747, September 9, 1902. Car Coupling.— This patent
covers an invention of great practical value in the operation of
electrically propelled railway trains. The invention was impor-
tant, and it has gone into large use. It is described in the text.

ELECTRICAL

ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION

No. 373,035, November 8, 1887. System of Electrical Distri-
bution.— An alternating-current distribution system in which
direct currents are locally derived from alternating for charging
storage batteries to be held in reserve against emergencies. An
alternating-current motor driven from the main circuit is provided
with a commutator through which direct currents are delivered to
local storage batteries, which in turn may at will be connected
with the supply circuit when required.

No. 373,036, November 8, 1887. Automatic Circuit-Controll-
ing Apparatus for Systems of Electrical Distribution. — Means are
provided for interchanging the connections of the supply circuit,
so that in case of interruption of one of the main lines, the appa-
ratus being supplied is automatically connected with another
main line.

No. 524,749, August 21, 1894. System of Electrical Distribu-
tion.— The organization of circuits is such as to enable the cen-
tral stations to connect line transformers as required, and thus
avoid unnecessary leakage through the primary coils. Fluid-pres-
sure devices operated from the central stations are provided for
controlling the connections of the primary coils of the various
transformers.

APPENDIX 351

TRANSFORMERS

No. 342,553, May 25, 1886. Induction Coil.— The patent, the
application for which was filed February 16, 1886, was the fore-
runner of the modern type of transformer, in which the coils are
essentially enclosed by a laminated iron core. The patent lays
stress upon the importance of bringing a large amount of lami-
nated iron into close proximity to the primary and secondary coils
without undue heating of the core. In one form H-shaped plates,
insulated from each other, are arranged in a pile and bolted to-
gether. The coils are then wound upon the central portion, partly
filling the spaces between the projecting arms, which are after-
ward closed outside the coils by iron plates or laminse, thus com-
pletely enclosing the main body of the coils. The construction
described in this patent led up to the modern form devised by
Stanley and later improved by Albert Schmid, in which E-shaped
plates are employed, permitting the separate winding and insula-
tion of the coils, the enclosing core thereafter being built upon
the coils.

No. 366,362, July 12, 1887. Electrical Converter.— This
patent is well known to the art as the Westinghouse Oil-Cooled
Transformer patent. It has been the subject of long-continued
litigation, having been repeatedly sustained as covering the mod-
ern oil-cooled transformer. From the opinion of the Court of
Appeals of the Second Circuit, in what is known as the "Union
Carbide Suit" the following is quoted: "The practical result of
the invention in suit, as testified to by complainant's experts, was
to so increase the capacity of converters that, while a dry con-
verter cooled by the natural circulation of air is limited to 10 kilo-
watts, the oil-insulated converters of the patent in suit are com-
mercially serviceable up to 500 kilowatts." This early invention
proved to be of great utility and has been extensively used in large
transformers.

GENERATORS AND MOTORS

No. 582,494, May 11, 1897. Core for Electrical Machines.—
In the early construction of laminated cores for electric machines
the laminae were clamped together by end plates secured by trans-
verse bolts. To lessen the labor and expense and other disadvan-

352 APPENDIX

tages of this construction, Westinghouse provided a cylindrical
support having a flange or plate at one end. The core plates
are built up about the central support and pressed together be-
tween the permanent flange or plate and a detachable plate sur-
rounding the other end of the support, the second plate being
then secured in position by an annular fastening ring, or key, lo-
cated partially in a groove in the casting and partially in a
groove in the plate. It is proposed to form the fastening ring of
soft metal which could be poured through openings into the
grooves. This may be melted out in case it is desired to disas-
semble the parts. The fundamental idea was improved upon by
Albert Schmid, who devised an ingenious plan for inserting an
annular soring-ring in the registering grooves.

METERS

No. 383,678, May 29, 1888. Electric Meter.— The invention of
this patent was designed to supply the then pressing need for an
alternating-current meter. Upon a disk driven at a constant
speed there rests a spheroidical roller adapted to be tipped in pro-
portion to the amount of current to be measured. With no cur-
rent flowing the greatest diameter of the roller is coincident with
the center of rotation of the disk, so that no rolling movement is
communicated to it. When current to be measured flows it acts
to tip the roller so as to bring its point of bearing upon the disk
away from the center a distance dependent upon the amount of
current flow. As the point of contact between the disk and the
roller is thus changed the roller is revolved upon its axis at a rate
proportional to the current flowing, and a clock train records the
revolutions. This device, improved, as shown in a joint patent
of Westinghouse and Lange No. 383,680, gave great promise of
meeting the serious needs of the art at the time, and would have
doubtless gone into extensive use but for the appearance of the
Shallenberger meter referred to in the text.

ABC LAMPS

No. 428,435, May 20, 1890. Alternating-Current Arc Lamp.
— In the development of alternating-current arc lamps it was
found advantageous in many instances to use flat carbons. This
patent sets forth the advantage of making the upper carbon

APPENDIX 353

thicker than the lower one for the purpose of more effectively
projecting the light downwardly.

ELECTRIC RAILWAYS AND LOCOMOTIVES

No. 404,139, May 28, 1889. System of Electrical Distribution.
— The object of the invention is to utilize the advantage of high-
potential alternating currents for transmitting energy to a loco-
motive operated by low-potential continuous currents. The loco-
motive carries a current rectifier, such as a synchronous alter-
nating-current motor, provided with a rectifying commutator.
The energy derived from the alternating source is delivered as
continuous current to direct-current propelling motors. Potential-
reducing transformers arranged along the railway serve to trans-
form the transmitted high-potential alternating current to such
low-potential current as may be conveniently delivered to the loco-
motive and then changed to direct current. This patent appears
to have been a pioneer in the art of driving direct-current locomo-
tives with energy transmitted from a distance in the form of alter-
nating currents, as is indicated by the following sample claims:
"The combination of an alternate-current electric generator, a
converter reducing the potential of the currents delivered thereby,
a rectifying commutator rendering continuous such reduced cur-
rents, and an electric railway supplied by such continuous cur-
rents. The combination of an electric locomotor, a current-recti-
fier upon said locomotor, a source of alternating electric currents,
and means for connecting said source with said rectifier."

No. 450,652, April 21, 1891. Electric Locomotor.— The object
of this invention is to increase the tractive effort of an electric
locomotive truck. One end of the motor frame is sleeved upon
the axle of one pair of wheels of a four-wheel truck to which the
motor is geared; the other end of the frame is supported upon an
axle carrying friction wheels serving to couple the driven truck
wheels with the remaining pair of truck wheels. As the torque
of the motor increases, the friction wheels bear down more heavily
upon the driving and driven wheels, thereby insuring greater
driving effort to be exerted by the wheels not directly driven by
the motor.

No. 550,467, November 26, 1895. Electric Fluid Locomotor.—
This is a fluid variable-speed and reversing gear for transmitting

354 APPENDIX

the power of a constant-speed driving electric motor to the driv-
ing wheels of a locomotor, and permitting the electric motor to
be driven always in a given direction and at a constant speed.
For this purpose a rotary eccentric-piston fluid pump, driven by
a constant-speed electric motor, is included in a closed fluid cir-
cuit, containing similar eccentric-piston fluid motors, which, in
turn, are connected with the driving wheels of the locomotor.
By varying the eccentricity of the fluid pumps and fluid motors
any speed and direction is readily obtainable. Other than elec-
tric motors may be used as the source of power, and the applica-
tions of the invention extend to other uses than driving locomotors,
as evidenced, for instance, by the following sample claim: "The
combination of a rotary pump driven by any source of power and
a hydraulic motor connected to the pump by a liquid circuit and
a means for altering the eccentricity of both pump and motor,
substantially as described." A system of this general character
was employed for running a freight elevator installed in the elec-
tric company's works at East Pittsburgh, where it operated suc-
cessfully for a number of years.

No. 579,526, March 23, 1897. Electropneumatic Locomotive.
— This invention was designed to relieve a driving motor from
undue strain when starting a load from a state of rest. It pro-
vides a reserve source of energy in the form of compressed air,
which may be availed of through a compressed-air motor to de-
liver power to the driving wheels. The compressed-air reservoir
may be charged while the train is running by reverse action of
the compressed-air motors.

No. 624,277, May 2, 1899. Electropneumatic Controlling
System. No. 773,832, November 1, 1904. Controlling System
for Electric Motors. No. 773,833, November 1, 1904. Westing-
house and Aspinwall. Controlling System for Electric Motors. —
These patents cover the electropneumatic multiple-unit controll-
ing system commonly known as the "drum control," which, with
minor changes, is still largely used in electric railway service.
The following quotation from the specification of Patent No.
624,277 well serves as a general description of the field of the
invention: "My present invention also embodies mechanism ac-
tuated by fluid pressure for operating the controller, or each of
the controllers, if several are in use; but instead of employing

APPENDIX 355

special train pipes and manually operated valves, I propose to
supply the fluid pressure from either the brake train pipe or from
a main reservoir on the same car with the controller, and to actu-
ate and control the necessary valves by means of an electro-
magnetic system, the arrangement being such that the corre-
sponding valves of each controller-operating mechanism in service
may be simultaneously operated from any selected point on any
car in the train, the combination and arrangement being such,
moreover, that a single car may be operated with the same facil-
ity, the only couplings necessary in addition to those employed
in trains controlled by air brakes and heretofore in use being
those for the electric conductors, which carry the necessary cur-
rent for energizing the electromagnets of the system." This pat-
ent contains twelve sheets of drawings, illustrating with remark-
able care the details of the various mechanical parts of the appa-
ratus; in fact, they are essentially working drawings. The patent
is replete with ingenious devices and affords an excellent illustra-
tion of the fertility of mind of Westinghouse in devising simple
mechanisms for accomplishing complicated interrelated mechani-
cal movements.

No. 645,612, March 20, 1900. Method of Distributing Electri-
cal Energy. — This patent sets forth a comprehensive plan for dis-
tributing power for electric railways over considerable distances,
the power being supplied from widely separated power plants.
To lessen the considerable losses of energy from various causes,
it is proposed to supply different portions of the circuit only
during the times they are called upon to deliver current. Gas
engines are located at numerous sub-stations, these being arranged
to be started quickly when required to supplement the power.
The gas may be distributed through a main gas-supply line.

STEAM ENGINES

No. 50,759, October 31, 1865. Rotary Steam Engine.— Inter-
esting as the first patent issued to Westinghouse, which was fol-
lowed by many others related to the same subject. It was a
phase of the engineering art that interested him throughout his
entire life.

No. 131,380, September 17, 1872. Improvement in Balanced
Slide Valves.— Those familiar with the development of steam-

356 APPENDIX

engine practice are aware of the great interest that has always
been taken in counterbalancing the pressure on the distributing
valves of the slide type. This is an early contribution by West-
inghouse to the subject.

No. 162,782, May 4, 1875. Governor for Steam Engine.— This
patent describes a governor for regulating the speed of steam
engines in which the valve mechanism for controlling the flow of
steam to the engine is actuated by fluid pressure that is controlled
by a centrifugal governor. By this method of construction a
small amount of centrifugal force, operating through limited mo-
tion, is caused to actuate the large valve necessary to control the
flow of steam from the boiler to the engine. In a modified form
this device was applied to many of the ships of the United States
Navy as well as to a large number of merchant vessels, for the
purpose of preventing the racing of the engines when the screw
propeller was thrown out of water in heavy seas.

No. 455,028, June 30, 1891. Rotary Engine.— This patent is
of interest, as containing in the specification a clear statement of
the difficulties theretofore encountered in attempting to produce
an economical and serviceable rotary engine of the type described,
and a proposed remedy. Following the general lines laid down
in this patent, but with important variations of detail, West-
inghouse produced many working examples of rotary engines
with results that would probably have satisfied many less exact-
ing inventors. There is good reason to believe that some of the
forms produced could have been commercialized to advantage,
but it was only after he became interested in the steam turbine
that he felt satisfied with the solution of the rotary-engine prob-
lem.

No. 712,626, November 4, 1902. Rotary Engine.— This is one
of the early examples, probably the first, of Westinghouse's con-
tribution to the steam-turbine art, although in the patent it is
called a rotary engine.

No. 807,003, December 12, 1905. No. 807,145, December 12,
1905. No. 807,146, December 12, 1905. No. 866,171, Septem-
ber 17, 1907. Elastic Fluid Turbine. — This group of patents re-
lates to improvement in steam turbines to correct a difficulty in-
herent in their construction, particularly in the larger sizes. The
following quotation from specification of Patent No. 807,003 sets

APPENDIX 357

forth the problem presented for solution. "The stationary ele-
ments or stators of elastic-fluid turbines it has been found under
certain conditions encountered during operation distort, and in
turbines where the clearances between the free ends of the blades
and vanes and the stator and rotor are small these distortions
are liable to cause trouble. To overcome the troubles incident
to stator or rotor distortions has been an object of this invention.
The steam, when it reaches the low-pressure end of steam tur-
bines, is more or less saturated with water, and the throwing out
of said water radially by the blades, due to centrifugal force, it
has been found when using unshrouded blades, causes a pitting
or eating away of the stationary element or stator in line with the
rows of rotor blades; and a further object of this invention has
been to provide in combination with the means for overcoming
the troubles due to distortion means for overcoming this pitting
or eating away of the stator." The importance of establishing the
smallest possible clearance at the ends of the blading, without
destructive mechanical contact, is recognized by all turbine engi-
neers as of highest importance in the production of highly effi-
cient machines. This was the purpose sought to be attained by
the methods proposed in these patents.

No. 787,485, April 18, 1905. Fluid Pressure Turbine. No.
816,516, March 27, 1906. Fluid Pressure Turbine. No. 935,569,
September 28, 1909. Elastic Fluid Turbine. No. 995,508, June
20, 1911. Elastic Fluid Turbine.— This group of patents describes
the most important contributions of Westinghouse to the ad-
vancement of the turbine art, covering the features of single-
double flow and reaction-impulse construction, by means of which
the size and speed limits of turbine construction were greatly ex-
tended. The specifications of these several patents clearly state
the purpose to be accomplished and the methods of doing it.

SIGNALLING AND INTERLOCKING

No. 237,149, February 1, 1881. Railway Switch Movement.—
Westinghouse's first patent in this art. It is "a part of a
pneumatic or hydraulic apparatus," preferably compressed air.
Two pistons of different area are connected by a motion plate.
There is constant pressure on the smaller piston, which acts to
hold the switch "normal," that is, set for the main track. The

358 APPENDIX

larger piston, when brought into action, overcomes the smaller
and moves the switch to the turnout position. There is provi-
sion for locking the switch in either position. This device was
modified to use one double-acting piston and cylinder, with
means for using power on one side or the other of the piston, and
in that form is now much used, notably in the New York sub-
ways.

No. 240,628, April 26, 1881. Block-Signalling Apparatus.— A
fluid-pressure signal movement, automatically controlled by a
track instrument. This combination was never installed in actual
service. The patent has historical interest, as showing the gen-
eral attitude at the time against the use of electric track circuits
and electric apparatus for the control of signals, although the
Robinson closed track circuit was known. Track conditions were
unfavorable and the electric apparatus was not robust. West-
inghouse sought simple and rugged means, using a track instru-
ment, or treadle, actuated by passing wheels and, in turn, actu-
ating valves and so setting in motion compressed air and liquid
columns. Others used treadles to close contacts and send an
electric impulse to the signal mechanism. Both systems were
fundamentally unsafe, as a train in block was not acting con-
stantly on the signal control. The closed track circuit eventually
came into general use and corrected this defect.

No. 240,629, April 26, 1881. Switch and Signal Apparatus.—
An interlocking system commonly known as the "hydropneu-
matic" system. The first system patent, showing fluid-pressure
motors for moving switches and signals, closed hydraulic columns
for controlling the motors, compressed-air apparatus for setting in
motion the hydraulic columns, and an interlocking machine for
manipulating the combination. The basis of a system that was
much used between 1882 and 1890; replaced by the electropneu-
matic system.

No. 245,108, August 2, 1881. Fluid-Pressure Switch and Signal
Apparatus. — A fluid-pressure switch motor controlled by an elec-
tromagnetic valve. The first appearance of the electromagnetic
valve in this art — an important step. The valve exactly as shown
was never used in practice, but fundamentally the arrangement
of valve, magnet, and control circuits is that used today in
electropneumatic switch operation. The provision of contacts for

APPENDIX 359

establishing indicating circuits to get indication of operation back
to the operator is another feature of modern practice that origi-
nated in this patent.

No. 245,592, August 9, 1881. Combined Electric and Fluid-
Pressure Mechanism. — Possibly the most important patent
granted to Westinghouse for a single signal mechanism, as its
elements remain substantially unaltered and but little modified
in detail in the many devices to which they have been applied
during the past thirty-five years. It comprises an electromagnet,
a double-seated pin valve operated thereby, and a single-acting
piston operated by pressure (against gravity) admitted and dis-
charged by the valve. Not alone to signals has this combination
been extensively applied, but to automatic train-stopping de-
vices, drawbridge locks, contacting devices of various designs and
for various purposes. It is used in the modern electropneumatic
train brake and in the thermostatic control of ventilators, heat-
ers, etc. In fact, it is an ideal means for the control of com-
pressed air in almost any service where quick action is demanded
of large volumes from remote points by an almost insignificant
electrical impulse in diminutive conductors. To this device the
E. P. block-signalling and interlocking systems owe their final
success.

No. 246,053, August 23, 1881. Interlocking Switch and Sig-
nal Apparatus. — An interlocking machine. Supplements No.
240,629, which shows a system in combination. This patent cov-
ers specially the interlocking machine used in that system, which
is hydropneumatic and soon gave way to the electropneumatic
system.

No. 270,867, January 16, 1883. Electric Circuit for Railway
Signalling. — An electric track circuit (closed) for single-track
working. Controls both opposing and following movements.
This patent marked a new era in the method of arranging and
controlling automatic signals. Previous to the introduction of
this method in practice (at Mingo Junction, Ohio, P. C. C. &
St. L. R. R. in about 1883) the custom was to use a single signal
at the entrance of each block section and to extend its control
over the whole or a part of the next succeeding block section —
thus insuring always two signals at "stop" in the rear of trains.
This involved delay of trains. The system here shown eliminates

360 APPENDIX

this "overlapping" control and uses a separate auxiliary (cau-
tionary or distant) signal located beneath the usual block signal.
Thus the "home" or block signal proper governs to the end of
its block only, while the "distant" or cautionary signal is con-
trolled from the second block ahead. Separate indications are
given the engineman as to conditions of two blocks at all times,
and he may "proceed at caution" when only one block immedi-
ately ahead is clear.

No. 357,109, February 1, 1887. Electric Interlocking Mecha-
nism for Switches and Signals. — Title misleading as "electric in-
terlocking" has come to mean a system in which the switch and
signal motors as well as the control are electric. The title was
probably chosen as describing the interlocking machine. This is
a fluid-pressure system using hydraulic motors and liquid col-
umns to convey the control from interlocking machine to motors.
Compressed-air valves and devices are used to set in motion the
liquid columns. The air valves are controlled amongst them-
selves and from the switches and signals by electric circuits.
Much the most comprehensive system of interlocking developed
up to that time and it anticipates much in the further develop-
ment of the art. As modified and improved in detail, it was
used for a few years and then abandoned' for the electropneu-
matic system, but disclosed many principles of control which
were embodied in the electropneumatic development.

No. 358,519, March 1, 1887. Electropneumatic Interlocking
Apparatus. — The first system patent in the electropneumatic art.
Certain elements had already been designed and patented, and a
system was disclosed in No. 357,109, hydropneumatic. No.
358,519 was never installed, as the hydropneumatic system filled
the limited field until another electropneumatic system, simpli-
fied and improved, was brought out, four years later.

No. 358,520, March 1, 1887. Electric Fluid-Pressure Engine.—
A piston engine to move switches and signals using fluid pres-
sure, preferably compressed air operated by a fluid-pressure slide
valve, controlled in turn by an electromagnetic valve. An ele-
ment in an interlocking system permitting movement of a func-
tion from any distance, as power is stored at the place of opera-
tion and put in action by an electric impulse from an interlocking
machine or track circuit. Fluid pressure is used for the dis-

APPENDIX 361

tributing valve, as the stroke is too long to be economically made
by an armature, but the control of the valve is within the range
of motion of an armature. This patent further discloses the
principle of "selection," by which two or more movements are
controlled by one lever — very important in the art.

No. 358,521, March 1, 1887. Electrically Actuated Fluid-Pres-
sure Motor. — Differs from No. 358,520 in being designed for sig-
nals only and the piston is moved one way by gravity. The
movement of the valve is, therefore, so short that it can be actu-
ated directly by electricity, eliminating the fluid-pressure valve
of No. 358,520. A signal-operating device of great simplicity,
durability and efficiency, which has remained substantially un-
altered for thirty-five years; possibly the best original adaptation
of a conception to existing and future demands and requirements
that can be found in any of Westinghouse's signal patents.

No. 358,713, March 1, 1887. Electrically Actuated Fluid-
Pressure Motor and Circuits Therefor. — An improvement on earlier
designs to get greater safety. The movement of a lock in an
interlocking machine or of a signal is made to follow the move-
ment of a switch by means of an electric circuit. In this inven-
tion the circuit is made or broken not only by the movement of
the piston of the switch motor but also by the movement of the
valve. Thus the movement of the dependent function (lock or
signal) cannot begin until the movement of the switch is begun
and also completed. This principle of preliminary locking was
familiar in mechanical locking, but was not so thoroughly used
before in power interlocking.

No. 360,638, April 5, 1887. Railway Electric Signal Apparatus.
— An improvement on No. 270,867, being track-circuit control
particularly designed for double track. No. 270,867 was for
single track. As here shown, this system was extensively applied
on the Pennsylvania Railroad and other important trunk lines of
this country. The control shown has also been extensively used
on American railways with other types of automatic signals than
those shown in the drawings of the patent.

No. 446,159, February 10, 1891. (Jens G. Schreuder, co-
inventor.) Switch and Signal Apparatus. — Discloses what is
practically the final form of the electropneumatic interlocking
machine which Westinghouse had been working at for ten

362 APPENDIX

years, in combination with elements that he had developed and
patented from time to time. It is his most important patent in
this art, being the simplification and synthesis of all that had
gone before. It is unusually elegant in detail and is an interest-
ing example of evolution.

No. 1,284,006, November 5, 1918. Automatic Train Control.-—
This application was filed five months after the death of
Westinghouse and the patent was issued to his executors. It
was his last patent. The automatic control of railway trains, to
reduce speed or stop a train without the act of the engineer, has
long been the subject of invention, but this is the only invention
of Westinghouse in that field. The elements of his electro-
pneumatic system had been very successfully combined into
automatic train control, in important special cases, by the
Union Switch and Signal Company. In this invention Westing-
house undertook a general solution of the problem, and he gave
to it deep study and long and costly experimentation with ap-
paratus so designed and built as to be fit for road service. He
aimed to stop a train by setting the brakes; to limit its speed; to
permit the engineer to throw the automatic apparatus out of
service; to record every such manipulation, and to make a con-
tinuous record of the speed of the train. The brake application
may be either service or emergency, and apparatus may be added
to shut off power as well as to apply the brakes.

NATURAL GAS AND FUEL GAS

No. 301,191, July 1, 1884. System for Conveying and Utiliz-
ing Gas under Pressure. — The first of a series of patents taken
out during the development of the natural-gas distribution in the
vicinity of Pittsburgh. The objects of this first invention are:
Protection against accidents due to leakage of gas at high pres-
sure; to retain and utilize gas that may leak in transit; and to
provide for the delivery of gas at desired points in the line and
at determined pressure below that of the gas in the main conduct-
ing pipe. The conducting pipe is enclosed in a protecting casing.
In this way compartments are formed, and these are charged
with gas at low pressure. They receive and retain any leakage
from the conducting pipe and have vent pipes and safety valves.
A pressure-regulating valve covers the normal delivery of gas

APPENDIX 363

from the conducting pipe to the safety compartment. Gas is
taken off for consumption by service pipes connecting with this
low-pressure compartment.

No. 307,606, November 4, 1884. Well-Drilling Apparatus.-—
The object is to "facilitate and expedite drilling of wells" by
avoiding the delays occasioned by the necessity of intermitting
the drilling operation to remove the cuttings and other solid mat-
ters from the bore of the well. The invention combines rotary
cutting apparatus and a fluid-pressure motor actuating it and
means for sustaining and feeding said cutting apparatus and
motor. In other words, the motor and pumping apparatus are
kept well down in the boring, and the material to be cleared is
forced out.

No. 306,566, October 14, 1884. Reissue No. 10,561, February
17, 1885. No. 312,541, February 17, 1885. No. 312,542, Feb-
ruary 17, 1885. No. 312,777, February 24, 1885. No. 314,089,
March 17, 1885. No. 315,363, April 7, 1885. No. 318,840, May
26, 1885. No. 318,841, May 26, 1885. No. 319,364, June 2, 1885.
No. 319,365, June 2, 1885. No. 319,765, June 9, 1885. No.
323,246, July 28, 1885. No. 331,595, December 1, 1885. No.
331,596, December 1, 1885. No. 333,800, January 5, 1886. No.
340,266, April 20, 1886. No. 340,267, April 20, 1886. No. 342,-
659, May 25, 1886. No. 344,701, June 29, 1886. Detecting and
Preventing Leakage. — The importance of preventing and detecting
leakage of natural gas as it appeared to the mind of Westing-
house will be indicated by these twenty patents taken out in quick
succession. Many serious and alarming accidents occurred in the
Pittsburgh district from leakage which, owing to the fact that
natural gas is comparatively without odor, was not always de-
tected, and some very serious explosions took place. Westing-
house dwelt upon the fact that economical conveyance of gas
over long distances demanded high pressures and large mains,
hence unusual difficulties in controlling leaks. One method,
shown in the patents, is to enclose the gas main proper in a
second pipe, the space between the two being constantly filled
with gas at low pressure. (See the first patent of July 1, 1884.)
This prevented the entrance of atmospheric air and formation of
an explosive mixture. This space was filled by occasional leak-
age from the high-pressure main, and by gas intentionally ad-

364 APPENDIX

mitted mto the space through regulating valves. The service
pipes were tapped off from this low-pressure gas. Another method
that proved effective was to surround the main with broken
stone or other loose material, and carry to the surface pipes
through which gas, leaking from the main, into this loose mate-
rial, would be conveyed to the air and its presence easily tested
by application of a light. Another precaution shown in a num-
ber of these patents had to do with expedients for making effec-
tive joints in the gas main and in the connections to the service
pipes.

No. 312,543, February 17, 1885. No. 324,905, August 25, 1885.
No. 341,295, May 4, 1886. No. 352,382, November 9, 1886.
No. 389,032, September 4, 1888. Pressure Regulators and Cut-
Off. — A small group of important patents is here shown. The
necessity of stepping down the pressure from the main to the
point of use is obvious. Another matter, not so obvious, was
the necessity of automatically cutting off the flow of gas in case,
for any reason, the pressure should fall below a certain fixed
point. This is explained in the text. It was also found neces-
sary to regulate the pressure to a degree workable in a propor-
tional meter for measuring the consumption of gas.

No. 318,839, May 26, 1885. Regulator for Gas and Air Sup-
ply to Furnaces. — The object is "to obtain a higher degree of
effectiveness and economy in the use of gas as a fuel for generat-
ing steam by provision of means for automatically regulating the
supply of gas and air to a steam-boiler furnace, in accordance
with and proportionately to variations in the pressure of steam
therein." This device is designed to give automatic regulation.

No. 347,673, August 17, 1886. Proportional Meter.-— The ob-
ject is to measure the quantity of gas as well as the rate of flow.
This is done by the combination of two operating valves covering
the proportionate delivery of gas from the supply pipe to a meter,
the capacity of which is a determined fraction of the total volume,
and to a direct delivery outlet, a regulator acting to maintain
uniform pressure in the meter and in the direct-delivery passages.

No. 365,454, June 28, 1887. Long-Distance Gas Distribution.
— The essential feature of this patent is the use of a main of con-
stantly increasing diameter. "It was the practice before this in-
vention to lay lines of uniform diameter, and when it was desired

APPENDIX 365

to increase the quantity of gas to lay an additional line. The
pipe used varied from 5 inches to 8 inches in diameter." This
necessitates a high pressure throughout. In this invention the
size and capacity of the main are increased at successive intervals.
The advantage of enlarging the pipe is not only to lessen the
average general pressure but also to provide a considerable reser-
voir capacity and at the same time to greatly accelerate the flow
of the gas from the well to points of distribution.

No. 680,827, August 20, 1901. No. 680,828, August 20, 1901.
No. 739,367, September 22, 1903. No. 890,951, June 16, 1908.
Gas Producers. — These patents have especially to do with the
production and use of fuel gas, a matter which for a long time
occupied much of the attention of Westinghouse. The first
patent is more directly calculated to use in connection with gas
engines in order that the products of combustion from the engine
itself should supply heat to the producer for -the generation of
additional gas. The other patents, while embodying the same
idea, are devoted mainly to the improvement of the producer.

MISCELLANEOUS PATENTS

No. 61,967, February 12, 1867. Improved Railroad Switch.—
The second of Westinghouse's recorded patents and, with No.
76,365, the foundation of his business. This is not properly a
switch, but a rerailing frog designed to replace on the rail the
wheels of a car or locomotive. A very early example, and possi-
bly the first.

No. 76,365, April 7, 1868, and reissue No. 3,584, August 3,
1869. Improved Railway Frog. — The improvement consists
chiefly in the arrangement of a chair under each end of the frog.
A feature not claimed in the patent was the reversibility of the
frog; that is to say, there were practically two frogs in one struc-
ture, so that after it was worn out on one side it could be turned
over and used on the other. It was also probably the first steel
casting used in railway work, as they were all made of crucible
cast steel, and some thousands of them were sold. It was for the
purpose of exploiting this particular device that Westinghouse
went to Pittsburgh.

No. 223,201, December 30, 1879. No. 223,202, December 30,

366 APPENDIX

1879. No. 224,565, February 17, 1880. Auxiliary Telephone
Exchanges. — A very early example of what is now known as
"Automatic Telephone Switching" or "Machine Switching."
Designed primarily to automatically connect any one of a group
of country subscribers through an automatic local exchange to a
central exchange, thus saving wire as compared with direct con-
nection from the subscriber to the central exchange. Never put
into practical use.

No. 400,420, March 26, 1889. Fluid Meter.— This is a water
meter, the object of the invention being to provide a meter in
which only a comparatively small percentage of the pressure of
the fluid to be measured is required to actuate the measuring de-
vices and in which the movement of the measuring receptacles is
continuous and progressive, avoiding the loss of power due to
stopping and change of direction. This patent is taken in col-
laboration with Mr. C. N. Dutton, and is a particularly ingenious
device, and has been largely used.

No. 493,881, March 21, 1893. Rotary Water Meter.— This
patent is taken in collaboration with Mr. E. Ruud. The purpose
is to provide a simpler and cheaper meter than that shown in the
patent of Westinghouse and Dutton, No. 400,420.

No. 550,359, November 26, 1895. Exhaust Pumps.— This is
for a pump particularly designed to exhaust bulbs of incandescent
electric lamps It was made during the development of a lighting
system for the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, the patent applica-
tion having been filed November 26, 1892. It was a part of the
general development which enabled the Westinghouse Electric
Company to take and perform the contract for the lighting of the
Fair.

No. 550,466, November 26, 1895. Rotary Pumping and Motor
Apparatus. No. 550,467, November 26, 1895. Electric and
Fluid Locomotor. No. 595,007, December 7, 1897. Elevator.—
This group of patents is interesting, as they directly resulted from
Westinghouse's experimentation in the rotary-engine field. The
primary purpose of the invention was to devise a method and
mechanism for translating uniform rotative speed into variable
speeds. At 'the date of the issue of these patents alternating-
current motors were not capable of economical speed variation,
and it was to overcome this limitation that the inventor devel-

APPENDIX 367

oped the inventions shown therein. As already stated, in each
case the devices proposed to accomplish the purpose of the inven-
tion contained the chief mechanical characteristics of the rotary
engine.

No. 708,107, September 2, 1902. Furnace.— In 1895 Mr.
James Douglas, an eminent mining engineer, in a paper on the
Metallurgy of Copper, said: "A real improvement would be de-
vising an air-jacketed furnace which would not buckle and in
which the blast could be raised to a much higher degree than
could be done by simply air-jacketing the crucible." This inven-
tion of Westinghouse is designed for an air-jacketed smelting
furnace that should be robust enough not to be deformed under
use, and that should have such large radiating surface as to make
air-cooling effective.

No. 1,050,186, January 14, 1913. Dynamometer.— This is a
very ingenious dynamometer designed for use in elaborate tests
of the efficiency of propellers, which tests were carried on for a
considerable time and on an elaborate scale. The object is to
measure the power delivered to the propeller, together with which
are measured and recorded the longitudinal thrust and the speed
of the propeller, and the velocity of the water leaving the pro-
peller.

No. 1,031,759, July 9, 1912. Vehicle-Supporting Device. No.
1,036,043, August 20, 1912. Fluid-Pressure Device.— These pat-
ents are for the inventions embodied in the Westinghouse air
spring for motor cars, the characteristics of which are widely
known.

INDEX

Abbot, Gordon, 251

Adams, Edward D., 141

Air brake, genesis of, 23; first patent,
24; who invented it? 25; first air-
braked train, 29; Air Brake Com-
pany chartered, 31; standards, 37;
the automatic brake, 32; influence
of English opinion, 34; the triple
valve, 38, 42, 58, 61; the Scott
Medal, Franklin Institute, 40; en-
gineer's valve, 45; driver brake, 46;
brake beams, 47; hose coupling, 47;
slack adjuster, 48; emergency trip,
48; Burlington trials, 50; the great-
est contribution to the art of brak-
ing, 61; the brake goes to England,
62; Newark trials, 64; Galton-
Westinghouse experiments, 65;
eome practical results, 68; British
and American brakes, 73; the in-
struction car, 74

Air lubrication of ship's hulls and
propellers, 197

Air spring for automobiles, 252; a
year of experimental work, 254;
spring wheels, cushion tires, etc.,
255; Westinghouse enthusiastic,
255

Alexander, James W., 282

Alternating current, 16, 88; in light-
ing, 96; Westinghouse interest be-
gins, 100; takes option on Gau-
lard and Gibbs patents, 102; begins
serious study, 104; buys Gaulard
and Gibbs rights, 112; forms Elec-
tric Company, 113; 95 per cent of
electric energy alternating current,
115; motor and meter, 121; conver-
sion, 130; results of Chicago Expo-
sition and Niagara, see these chap-
ters; in traction, see Chapter IX;
effects on civilization, see last
chapter

Amber Club, 290

Ambler, Augustine, L., 23

Arnold, B. J., 167

Astor, John Jacob, 141

Auxiliary turbines for schooners, 195

Backstrom, C. A., rotary-engine pat-
ent, 182

Bacon, Francis, 11

Baggaley, Ralph, 25

Bartlett, Professor William Holms
Chambers, 312

Belfield, Reginald, vii, 103, 113, 114,
141

Belmont, August, 258

Bessemer, Sir Henry, 321, 325, 327

Betts, L. F. H., 236

Blathey, 104, 111

Bradley, Charles S., invents a rotary
converter, 131

British and American brake practice,
reasons for differences, 73

British Westinghouse Electric and
Manufacturing Company, 264

Brush, Charles F., 92

Burchard, Anson W., 251

Burlington Brake Trials, a crisis in
brake history, 50; reports of
M. C. B. Association, 52, 56, 59;
discouraging results in 1887, 57;
Westinghouse to the rescue, 58

Byllesby, H. H., 113, 114

By-products, auxiliary turbine for a
schooner, 195; propeller designs
and tests, 195; air lubrication of
hip's hulls and propellers, 197

Caldwell, John, 113

Canadian Westinghouse Company,

Ltd., 264, 280
Car replacers (for derailed cars), 8,

365
Carlyle, Thomas^ 312

370

INDEX

Carnegie, Andrew, 308

Carnot, Sadi, 184, 314

Cassatt, A. J., 77, 86, 256

Cast-steel frog and first steel foundry,
181, 365

Cataract Construction Company,
142, et seq.

Central power system, 117; largest
station, 201; the Clyde Valley en-
terprise, 267

Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul
electrification, 171; regeneration,
172; load- balancing, 173

Chicago World's Fair (Columbian
Exposition), Westinghouse takes
lighting contract, 134; "stopper
lamp," 137; the historical element,
machinery shown, 138

Chinn, Albert, 411

Christy, George H., 9, 24

Civil War, Westinghouse brothers
in, 3

Cleveland, Grover, 8, 283

Clyde Valley Electric Power Com-
pany, 267

Coffin, C. A., 251

Coffin, L. S., 51

Coleman, John Pressley, 223

Columbian Exposition, see Chicago
World's Fair

Compressed-air transmission of pow-
er, 145; switching and signalling,
early patents for, 219

Condenser improvements, 798

Cooper Hewitt Electric Company/
237

Cooper Hewitt lamp, 236

Copper, Westinghouse buys mines
and experiments in reducing ore,
259; the net result, 260

Coupler, combined gas, air, and elec-
tric, 242; important advantages,
244

Cravath, Paul D., vii, 251, 264, 280

Cromer, Earl of, 293

Cromwell, Oliver, 303, 308

Curtis, Leonard E., 100, 138

Dalzell, John, 113
Darwin, Charles, 309
De Laval, 185, 191

Deri, 104, 111
Dewing, Arthur S., 281
Diehl, Phillip, 112

Edison, Thomas A., 93, 135, 137, 145,
159

Edison Electric Lighting Company,
293

Edison General Electric Company,
134

Education, 7; use of English, 7, 310;
would he have been greater with
more education? 311; his scrap-
heap, 311; the laws of nature, 313;
a trained engineer, 314; heat and
power from the atmosphere, 314;
perpetual motion, 317; reverence
and religion, 318

Electrical activities, a general sketch,
87; current, kinds and character-
istics, 87; takes up lighting, 91;
"stopper lamp," 94; some early in-
stallations, 95; arc lighting, 96;
early direct-current machinery, 98;
origin of Westinghouse's interest in
alternating current, 100; invention
of Gaulard and Gibbs, 100; the
transformer is begun, 104; and rap-
idly developed, 105; the art is rev-
olutionized, 111; Westinghouse
Electric Company chartered, 113;
first commercial alternating-cur-
rent plant, 114; the Stillwell
booster, 114; opposition to alter-
nating current, 114; about 95 per
cent of electric energy now used
alternating current, 115; central
power-station idea, 117; alternat-
ing-current motor and meter, 121;
Tesla patents, 121; reasons for slow
development, 122; rotary converter,
130; Chicago World's Fair, 134;
Niagara Falls, 141; a new art, 144;
effects of the Telluride plant, 144;
standard frequencies, 148; traction,
159; St. Clair tunnel, 169; New
York, New Haven & Hartford, 170;
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul,
171; water-power development and
electric traction, 178; some results,
175; power stations, largest, 201;

INDEX

371

transmission distances, present,
201; turbo-generators, 201; elec-
tricity in switching and signalling,
215; mercury rectifier, 239

Electric traction, early enterprises,
159; development of direct-current
systems, 161; Vanderpoel patent,
163; state of the art when West-
inghouse took up heavy traction,
164; single-phase systems, 167; St.
Clair tunnel, 169; New York, New
Haven & Hartford, 170; Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul, 171; some
broad results of electric traction,
175

Elmer, J. J., vii

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 76, 304

English experiences with the brake,
62; the Newark trials, 64; Galton-
Westinghouse experiments, 65

Equitable Life trustee, 17; contro-
versy in the Association, 282; Ryan
buys control, 282; chooses trustees,
283; letter to trustees, 283; Cleve-
land's answer, 283; deed of trust
and plan, 285; mutualization, 285

European companies, plans included
the world, 262; some foreign com-
panies, 263; only difficulty finding
men, 262; Lord Fisher on efficiency,
262; the plan of 1896, 263; British
Westinghouse Electric and Manu-
facturing Company, one of his
"mistakes," 264; Clyde Valley
Electrical Power Company, the
central-power idea, 267; brake
works in Paris, 269; moved to
Freinville, 269; Compagnie des
Freins Westinghouse, 269; Socie'te'
Anonyme Westinghouse, 269; So-
cieta Italiana Westinghouse, 270;
Russian Brake Company, 270; not
"nationalized" by the Soviet gov-
ernment, 271; other European com-
panies, 271; the broad result, 272

Ferraris, Galileo, 100, 129

Field, Stephen D., 159

Financial Methods, qualities dis-
played, 273; self-reliance, 274; per-
sonal financing, 275; used his own

money and credit, 276; idealism,
277

Fish, F. P., 287

Fisher, Lord John Arbuthnot, 262,
305

Fisher, Reverend S. J., D.D., 3

Forbes, Professor George, 144, 149

Franklin Institute, the Scott medal,
40

Friction, new light on the laws of, 71;
some effects on the brake art, 72

Friction draft gear, 77; a new princi-
ple introduced, 78; genesis of the
gear, 80; first patent and first
train, 83; functions of the gear, 84;
first commercial use, 85

Fuel gas, see natural gas

Galton, Sir Douglas, 66

Galton-Westinghouse experiments,
65; relations of friction and speed,
69; the six conclusions, 68; a fal-
lacy exploded, 70

Ganz Company, 104, 131, 139, 148,
166, 172

Gas, fuel, 229

Gas, natural, 221

Gas engines, see steam and gas en-
gines

Gaulard, Lucian, 100

Gaulard and Gibbs invention, 100

Geddes, Sir Auckland, 320

General Electric Company, 95, 147,
163, 172, 177, 178, 208, 239, 241,
242, 251

Gibbon, Edward, 311

Gibbs, George, 256

Gibbs, John Dixon, 100

GiUespie, T. A., 227

Gow, Alex M., 230

Griffin, Eugene, 251

Herr, E. M., vii, 105, 251
Herr, Herbert T., vii, 188, 252
Hewitt, Abram S., 321, 324
Hewitt, Peter Cooper, 236
Hodge, Nehemiah, 63, 215
Hughes, Charles E., 282
Huxley, Thomas H., 1, 289, 306, 309
Hyde, Henry B., 282
Hydraulic interlocking, 219

372

INDEX

Idealism, 76, 277

Induction motor and meter, 121;
Tesla patents, 121; reasons for slow
development, 122; a great chapter
in electrical history, 122; meters in-
vented by Westinghouse, Lange,
and Shallenberger, 128

Instruction car for air brakes, 75

Insulation, some difficulties and
methods, 246

Jackson, C. H., 113
Johnson, Doctor Samuel, 289

Kapteyn, Albert, vii, 307

Kelvin, Lord, vii, 115, 142, 146, 314,

328

Kennedy, Rankin, 111
Kerr, Thomas B., 9, 100, 137
Kerr, Walter C., 163

Lamme, B. G., vii, 127, 133, 153
Lamps, stopper, 233; tungsten, 233;
incandescent system inefficient,
234; Nernst lamp, 234; effect on
lighting engineering, 235; Cooper
Hewitt mercury arc lamp, 236;
Cooper Hewitt Electric Company,
237; mercury arc rectifier, 239
Lange, Philip, 128
Leblanc, Maurice, 199
Libau co-inventor of air spring, 254
Li Hung Chang's curiosity, 152
Lincoln, Paul M., 290
Lukach (Luke), J. H., vii, 260

MacAlpine, John H., 191, 253, 318

Macaulay, Lord, 321

Manufacture of power, 118, 201, 320,
325, 329

Marsh, Joseph W., 14

Mascart, Monsieur E., 142

Master Car Builders' and Master
Mechanics' Associations, 51

Maxim, Hiram S., 94

McGinley, John R., 113

McMillen, Emerson, 230

Meaning of George Westinghouse,
lived history, 320; effect on trans-
portation, 321 ; an apostle of democ-

racy, 322; the era of manufactured
power, 325; effect on mankind sug-
gested by Sir Auckland Geddes,
326; place of electricity in manu-
facture of power, 329; crisis in rail-
road development and electrical
development, 327; the judgment of
history, 330

Melville, Rear Admiral George W.,
191, 253

Mershon, Ralph D., 290

Miller, John F., vii, 299

Mills, D. O., 141

Morgan, J. P., 292

Morley, Lord, 303, 308

Morison, George S., 325

Multiple-unit control, what it is and
why, Sprague's invention, 24; di-
plomacy fails and Westinghouse in-
vents, 241; the birth of the turret
control, 242

Napoleon, 262, 274, 310

Natural gas, broad conception and
bold execution, 224; takes out 38
patents, 28 in two years, 225; early
dangers and safety devices, 225; the
well at "Solitude," 227; Philadel-
phia Company, 227; effects in
Pittsburgh, 228; Pittsburgh with-
out smoke, 229; fuel gas, reasons
for it, 229

Neave, Charles, 251

Nelson, Lord, 278, 305

Nernst, Doctor Walter, 234

Nernst Lamp Company, 235

New Era, 118, 326

New York, New Haven & Hartford
electrification, 170

Niagara Falls power development,
141; the International Commis-
sion, 142; projects invited, 142;
decision to use electricity, 145;
compressed-air transmission, 145;
plans for development submitted
and rejected, 145; study of fre-
quency, 148; generator adopted,
149; specifications fixed, 150; con-
tract let, 151; a brilliant achieve-
ment, 151; Li Hung Chang's ad-
venture, 152; the engineers, 153;

INDEX

373

success and results, 154; electro-
chemical works, 156
Norfolk & Western, 173

O'Brien, Judge Morgan, J., 18
Osborne, Loyall A., vii

Pantaleoni, Guido, 100, 113

Parsons, Sir Charles, 185

Parsons, T. U., vii

Patent Control, Board of, member-
ship and character, 250

Payne, Robert Treat, 251

Pensions, the air-brake plan, 298

Personality of George Westinghouse,
relations with his men, 287; family
feeling, 288; justice and prejudice,
289; the Amber Club, 290; ethical
influence, 291; education by West-
inghouse, 291; mistakes in choos-
ing men, 292; charm and humor,
293; humanitarian and welfare
ideas, 295; benefit and pension
systems, 297; his body, mind, and
manners, 300; did not work for
wealth, 302; imagination, 304;
fortitude and audacity, 305; per-
sistence, 305; energy, 306; con-
centration, 306; memory, 307; was
well served, 309; knew the value of
consultation, 309; more than a
genius, 310; education, see this
topic in the index

Philadelphia Company, 10, 227

Pitcairn, Robert, 113

Pittsburgh, 228

Pope, Franklin L., 94, 113

Potter, Henry Noel, 234

Power, manufacture of, 118, 325

Power switching and signalling a
basic contribution to the art, 214

Pownal, first American home of the
family, 1

Propellers for steamships, efficiency
of, experiments on, 195

Rectifier, mercury arc, 239
Reduction gear, see steam and gas

engines
Renan, Ernest, 325

Reorganizations, receiverships of
1917, 279; Westinghouse's plan,
280; loyalty of employees, 281

Research, its place in industry, 244;
Westinghouse's understanding,
244; its special place in building
the electric art, 246; insulation,
246; mathematical analysis and
research, 247

Rhodes, Godfrey W., on the Burling-
ton trials and Westinghouse'a tri-
umph, 59

Roosevelt, Theodore, 317

Root, Elihu, 285

Rotary converter, its place and func-
tions, 130; invented simultaneous-
ly by Lamme and Bradley, 131;
drives large direct-current genera-
tors out of business, 132

Rotary engines, see steam and gaa
engines

Rothschild, Baron, 260

Rowen, A. T., 113

Rowland, Professor Henry C., 146'

Ryan, Thomas F., 282

St. Clair tunnel electrified, 169

Saturday half-holiday, 295

Sawyer and Man, 93, 136

Schiff, Jacob H., 293

Schmid, Albert, 100, 103, 107, 114,
148, 153

Schreuder, Jens G., 222

Scott, Professor Charles F., vii, 144,
147, 148, 153

Sellers, Doctor Coleman, 141, 142,
146, 155

ShaUenberger, O. B., 100, 103, 107,
114, 128, 144, 148, 150, 153

Shepard, Frank H., vii

Siemens and Halske show a rotary
converter, 131

Signalling and interlocking, function
of signals, 212; f ast traffic and
slow, 213; interlocking, what it is,
213; comparative progress in the
United States and England, 214;
use of power, a basic contribution
to the art, 214; state of the art
when Westinghouse entered the
field, 215 J man-power interlock-

374

INDEX

ing, 218; first patent for com-
pressed air switch movement, 218;
hydraulic switching, 219; electro-
magnetic valve, 219; electropneu-
matic system early foreseen, 220;
first power interlocking, 220; track
circuits, 221; most important inter-
locking patent, 222

Smith, Frank Stuart, 138

Soule, R. H., 83

Spencer, Samuel, 251

Sprague, Frank J., 159, 240

Stanley, William, 92, 96, 103, 107,
109, 110, 113

Steam and gas engines, 179; West-
inghouse's first patent for a rotary
engine, 179; four-cylinder recipro-
cating engine, 180; single-acting
engine, 181; gas engines, 182;
steam turbines, 184; development
by Parsons, 185; Westinghouse
takes license from Parsons, 185;
his first commercial turbine, 186;
the Hartford turbo-generator, 186;
single-double-flow type, 187; im-
pulse-reaction type, 187; descrip-
tion by H. T. Herr, 188; reduction
gear for marine turbines, reasons
for, 190; Melville and MacAlpine
invention, 192; use in war ships,
194; advantages of the floating
frame gear, 194; condenser im-
provements, Leblanc's inventions,
198

Steam turbines, see steam and gas
engines

Steel cars, for the New York Subways
suggested by George Gibbs, with
the cooperation of Westinghouse
and Cassatt, 256; a car built at
Altoona, 258; two companies build
300, 258

Steel castings, 181

Stephen, Sir James Fitz James, 123

Stephenson, George, 322, 325

Stetson, Francis Lynde, 141

Stillwell, Lewis B., 114, 144, 148,
153

Switching and signalling, first inter-
ested in, 10, see chapter on

Taylor, Frank H., 251

Telephone inventions, a form of ma-
chine switching, 248; American de-
velopment of the telephone, 250

Telluride, alternating current trans-
mission, 144

Tener, Hubert C., vii

Terry, Charles, vii, 19, 139, 251

Tesla, Nikola, 121

Thomas, Eben B., 251

Thomson, Sir William, see Lord Kel-
vin

Townley, Calvert, vii, 290

Transformer, essentials conceived and
developed in three weeks, 105; the
heart of the alternating current sys-
tem, 107; Westinghouse invents
and patents the oil-cooled trans-
former, 109; Stanley's important
contribution, 110

Transmission, electric, greatest dis-
tances, 201

Transportation, evolution of, 325

Turbo-generator, 201 ; industrial im-
portance, Westinghouse foresaw it,
222; first units, 203; rotating-field
type, 203; early troubles, 204; dis-
places engine-type generators, 205;
enclosed generator and artificial
cooling, 207; high speed and low
speed and horizontal and vertical
type, 208; effects on the electrical
industry, 208; analytical engineer-
ing, 209; some effects of short cir-
cuits, 209

Turner, W. V., eminent in the air-
brake art, 62

Turretini, Colonel Theodore, 42

Unwin, Professor W. C., 142
Uptegraff, Walter D., 275

Vacuum brake, 63
Vanderpoel trolley patent, 163

Warren, B. H., 251
Watt, James, 326
Wellman, Samuel, 230
Westinghouse. Albert (brother),

killed in the Civil War, 3
Westinghouse, George (father), 2

INDEX

375

Westinghouse, George, variety of ac-
tivities, v; kept no journals, vi;
birth and descent, 1 ; qualities of
father and mother, 2, 6; George
and his brothers as soldiers, 3; a
normal product of blood and breed-
ing, 5; as a boy in shop and school,
7; first patent, 8; marriage and
home, 8, 9; first brake patent, 9,
24; signalling, 10; eleven years of
greatest productivity, 10; gas and
gas engines, 16; trustee Equitable
Life, 17; as an administrator, 18;
the receiverships, 19; never beaten,
19; his death, 20; contributions to
civilization, 21; first ideas of
brakes, 24; belief in standards, 31;
saves the brake after Burlington,
57; greatest contribution to the
art of braking, 61; carries the
brake to England, 62; observations
on friction and speed, 68; an ideal-
ist, 76; friction draft gear, 77; be-
gins electrical activities, 87; be-
comes interested in alternating
current, 100; begins the modern
transformer, 104; how he worked,
105; revolutionized the electric art,
116; central power-station idea, 117;
buys Tesla patents, 121; invents
alternating-current meter, 128; Chi-

cago World's Fair, 134; Niagara
Falls, 141; traction, 159; engines
and turbines, 179; reduction gear,
190; propeller studies, 195; turbo-
generators, 201; signalling and in-
terlocking, 212; natural gas, 221;
fuel gas, 229; lamps, 233; multiple-
unit control, 240; combined coup-
ler, car, air, and electric, 242, re-
search, 244; telephone patents,
248; Board of Patent Control, 250;
air spring for automobiles, 252;
steel cars, 256; copper, 259; Euro-
pean enterprises, 262; financial
methods, 273; reorganizations,
279; Equitable Life trustee, 281;
personality, 287; education, 310;
meaning of his life, 320

Westinghouse, Henry Herman
(brother), vii, 5, 92, 113

Westinghouse, John Hendrik (great
grandfather), 1

Westinghouse, John (brother), 3

Westinghouse Companies listed, 12,
113

Whittemore, Don J., 311

Wickes, Edward D., 141

Wilmerding, town of, 295

Wistinghausens, 2

Zipernowski, 104, 112

RETURN TO the circulation desk of any
University of California Library
or to the

NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station
University of California
Richmond, CA 94804-4698

ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS
2-month loans may be renewed by calling

(415) 642-6753
1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books

to NRLF
Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days

prior to due date

DUE AS STAMPED BELOW

JUN 2 6 1990

YC 328!

4Ci685

i

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY